MANAMA, Bahrain, May 21–At least one opposition activist was injured by rubber bullets when security forces opened fire Monday at a political rally east of the Bahraini capital.
The activist, Ibrahim Sharif, said he was injured in the leg after anti-riot security forces broke into a rally by opposition groups protesting a government crackdown.
Sharif said police fired at the rally when hundreds of participants refused orders to disperse.
“They started shooting and I felt heat in my legs,” he told The Associated Press.
The meeting was organized by opposition groups to celebrate a decision by the king to drop the government’s case against three rights activists.
MANAMA, Bahrain, May 21–At least one opposition activist was injured by rubber bullets when security forces opened fire Monday at a political rally east of the Bahraini capital.
The activist, Ibrahim Sharif, said he was injured in the leg after anti-riot security forces broke into a rally by opposition groups protesting a government crackdown.
Sharif said police fired at the rally when hundreds of participants refused orders to disperse.
“They started shooting and I felt heat in my legs,” he told The Associated Press.
The meeting was organized by opposition groups to celebrate a decision by the king to drop the government’s case against three rights activists.
The activists had been charged with trying to illegally change the kingdom’s political system.
Hundreds of people were attending and some might have also been hit, said Sharif.
Later, the ministry of interior said security forces tried to disperse the protesters because the meeting was unauthorized.
“They did not obey the orders and the force had to deal with them appropriately and in line with the law,” said a ministry statement.
King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa’s decision to drop the case Friday followed two days of clashes in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, between local police and Bahraini youths.
The protesters demanded an end to the case against Hassan Mushaima’a, the leader of the Haq rights group; Abdul-Hadi al-Khawaja, head of the Bahraini Center for Human Rights; and Shaker Abdul-Hussein, an independent activist.
The government detained the activists in early February after they made speeches criticizing the government, but immediately released them on bail after their detention caused street protests.
They were subsequently charged with promoting change to the political system through illegitimate means, inciting hatred of the political system and harming the public interest.
Haq is an opposition movement seeking democratic reform and greater rights for Shiite Muslims in Bahrain.
The government refuses to recognize it and considers both it and the Bahraini Center for Human Rights as illegal organizations.
Shiites make up about 60 percent of Bahrain’s population and have long complained of discrimination