‘Bahrain politically bankrupts the public’

Press TV has conducted an interview with Ibrahim Mousawi, a political analyst from Beirut, to discuss the situation in Bahrain. The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Looking at this situation in Bahrain that now once again we are seeing long sentences have been given to protesters. It seems the more that the people are demonstrating, it appears the less that the government is responding to their calls. Your take sir.

Mousawi: Well to tell you the truth, no the government is responding, but responding in a very harsh way. It seems that certain governments and certain dictatorships do not learn the lesson that has always been given by the people when they want to come and to seek their freedom and their liberty.

The problem is that when we talk about the long sentences.
The longest sentence ever has been dictated upon and given and issued to the Bahraini people themselves by their government and by the rulers and by the authorities who are not accepting to give them their minimal rights.

The minimum, the basic rights that are being enshrined within even the parameters of the law, within the parameters of the human rights, the basics for the alphabet of democracy through a representation [have been] taken away in order to have a say in their own affairs.

These are all like civil societies’ rights that should be given to the people and the government continues to deny and not to respond to them. They only think that their response is through giving more sentences.

They are giving sentences to individuals whether they are 31, 40, 100 or 1000. The sentence that has been handed has long been handed, has long been issued against the Bahraini people is there.

So, the longest sentence is for the Bahraini people and I believe the only comment we can talk or we can say for such people is that, ‘Yes whenever you want to take your freedom in this civil way.’ And we always urge that people should always go, especially in this situation in Bahrain, they should go into peaceful ways.

The way they are doing it now, when they do it with a kind of system and authority that they have in their country, then the kind of dealing and harsh sentences are going to be like the ones that we found or we heard about.

Press TV: What do you think [it] will take to change what we have seen now has become basically the status quo. Demonstrators go out they try to protest and try to demand their right in a peaceful manner and of course then the government comes down very harshly on them. What do you think it will take to bring a change in Bahrain?

Mousawi: This is bankruptcy from the government’s side. This is total political bankruptcy and this is a kind of resolve, determination, [and] unwavering way by the Bahraini people to continue their revolt. To continue their movement in a peaceful way.

I believe we have only to count the time. I have said this before, I believe it. It is some unshaken conviction that they are going to reach where they want to reach.

They are going to have their own rights, they are going to have representative governments no matter how long it would take.

The genuinity of this movement, the authenticity of this movement can never be played off by any government even their own government.