Bahrain opposition calls for release of 300 student prisoners

Bahrain’s main opposition bloc, the al–Wefaq National Islamic Society, has called on the Manama regime to release 300 student prisoners.

Al-Wefaq’s call comes ahead of the new school year.

Meanwhile, Bahraini demonstrators took to the streets in solidarity with jailed students in the region of Mahazzah outside the capital, Manama.

According to rights activists in Bahrain, there are thousands of people, including students, behind bars across the small Persian Gulf island monarchy.

A Bahraini non-governmental organization, which works to promote human rights in the kingdom, said back in June that more than 3,500 people have been subjected to various kinds of torture at the country’s detention facilities since the beginning of pro-democracy rallies there in mid-February 2011.

In April, Human Rights Watch conducted separate phone interviews with three Bahraini inmates, released from the notorious Jaw Prison, only to find out that they had witnessed security forces systematically beating up prisoners there.

Since early 2011, thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations on the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa family to relinquish power.

The Manama regime’s crackdown on peaceful protests has intensified since the arrest of al-Wefaq leader Sheikh Ali Salman earlier this year.

Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds more injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on peaceful demonstrations.