Bahrain crackdown continues unabated: Analyst

The recent jail sentences handed down to five anti-regime activists in Bahrain indicate the Al Khalifa regime’s determination to continue its crackdown on dissent, a political analyst tells Press TV.

“…The [Bahraini] government oppression continues and it does not seem to be stopping,” William Beeman, a professor at the University of Minnesota from San Jose, said in an interview with Press TV on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, a court in Bahrain sentenced five anti-regime activists to five years in prison for allegedly plotting to disrupt the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix last year by planting a bomb at the circuit.

“What the Bahrain government is trying to do is that there is a large auto race and they are trying to restore the reputation of the race…. They are using precautionary measures…to give warning to potential protesters for this year,” Beeman added.

The analyst also criticized the international community and the United States for failing to condemn the jail sentences handed down by the Bahraini court.

“The United States is the one nation that has the greatest interest in Bahrain because of the stationing of the Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf in Bahrain… and for this reason, they do not criticize the government for its oppressive activities,” he said.

Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have held numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa family to relinquish power.

On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country to assist the Bahraini regime in its crackdown on peaceful protesters.