A group of Bahraini youth rioted late Wednesday outside Sehla, south of the capital Manama, burning refuse and blocking the entrance to the Shiite village.
The protesters quickly dispersed fleeing anti-riot police who were dispatched to break up the crowd for the second time within a few hours, after an earlier protest was held in the same area.
No clashes were reported during the two incidents, but sources said that a police car sustained damage after being attacked with stones following the first protest.
The protesters were rallying against a ruling Wednesday morning by a Bahraini court, which handed down jail sentences for two pamphlet activists arrested in November.
A group of Bahraini youth rioted late Wednesday outside Sehla, south of the capital Manama, burning refuse and blocking the entrance to the Shiite village.
The protesters quickly dispersed fleeing anti-riot police who were dispatched to break up the crowd for the second time within a few hours, after an earlier protest was held in the same area.
No clashes were reported during the two incidents, but sources said that a police car sustained damage after being attacked with stones following the first protest.
The protesters were rallying against a ruling Wednesday morning by a Bahraini court, which handed down jail sentences for two pamphlet activists arrested in November.
Dentist Mohammed Saeed al-Sahlawi, 35, who was sentenced to 12 months in jail, and Hussain Abdulaziz al-Hebshi, 32, who was sentenced for six months, were detained for possession of anti- government leaflets that they attempted to circulate after downloading from the internet.
The leaflets called for a boycott of the Bahraini elections held in December.
The court decision came a day after Human Rights Watch, a US-based non-governmental organization, called on the Bahraini government to drop the charges against the two defendants.
“The imprisonment of two Bahrainis for trying to express nonviolent political opinions violates freedoms guaranteed under Bahrain’s international obligations and the kingdom’s own constitution,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
“Bahrain’s persecution of free expression makes a mockery of its membership in the UN Human Rights Council”.
Whitson said that the Bahraini government should repeal its vague legal provisions on freedom of expression instead of using them to prosecute critics.
“The authorities should also respect peaceful protest instead of resorting to violence,” she said Tuesday.
The Shiite opposition al-Wefaq Islamic Society, which has a 17- member bloc in parliament, was quick to condemn the court decision, describing it as a violation of freedom of expression and a setback to reforms.
In a statement, the society said that the ruling targets the public right of peaceful expression.
The ruling is a threat to all citizens who disagree with authorities subjecting them to repressive laws and returns prisoners of conscience to the jails, the statement said.
Al-Wefaq, the leftist Democratic Action Society known as Waad (Promise), and the opposition grouping Haq (Rights) had all called earlier for the release of the two defendants, whom they described as prisoners of conscience.
According to the Committee of Solidarity with Activists and Detainees of Conscience in Bahrain, the families and lawyer of detainees will appeal against the sentence.
The two faced charges that carried sentences of up to 7 years in prison.
These charges are based on Articles (161) and (168) of the Bahraini Penal Code for possession of publications, without legitimate reason, calling for the change of the state system through illegal means and possession of publications containing false news and rumours, which would incite disruption of public security and damage the public interest.
© 2007 DPA