SHAFAQNA (Shia News Association) — A Bahraini court on Monday ordered the disbanding of a Shia opposition group, the Islamic Action Association, judicial officials told AFP.
The group was found guilty of "several violations" including following a "religious ideology that calls for violence" and "not holding the association's convention for more than four years," according to the sources.
Prosecutors also accused the group of having committed "violations related to its financial situation by not providing the ministry with reports on its annual budget."
Bahrain's justice ministry in June filed a lawsuit to dissolve the association which joined Shia-led protests last year.
The group's head Mohammed Ali Mahfuz and several of its leading members were sentenced to long prison sentences along other opposition figures for "plotting to overthrow the regime" and "inciting violence."
The Shia opposition, including the main Al-Wefaq formation, slammed Monday's court decision as a "violation of the constitution and law."
PressTV stated the news of disband saying : While Bahraini prosecutors claimed on Monday that the ruling was made over the group's failure to provide the justice ministry with reports on its annual budget and promoting violence, it is widely believed that the Islamic Action Association was disbanded over its support for anti-government demonstrations in the country. Bahraini opposition parties, including al-Wefaq, have slammed the court's ruling, saying it violates the constitution and law, AFP reported.
Bahrain's justice ministry filed a lawsuit to dissolve the group in June and the group's leader Mohammed Ali Mahfuz and several of its leading members were sentenced to long prison terms along other opposition figures for "plotting to overthrow the regime".
Bahrainis have been staging demonstrations since mid-February 2011, demanding political reform and a constitutional monarchy, a demand that later changed to an outright call for the ouster of the ruling Al Khalifa family following its brutal crackdown on popular protests.
Scores of people have been killed and many others have been injured in the Saudi-backed crackdown on peaceful protesters in Bahrain.
Bahrainis hold King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa responsible for the death and arrest of protesters.
Source : AFP , PressTV
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