Clashes erupted between police and protesters in Bahrain ahead of a hearing in the trial of a leading Shiite cleric accused of money laundering and illegally collecting funds, witnesses said on Monday.
Overnight, security forces fired tear gas and buckshot at hundreds of demonstrators in several Shiite villages around the capital who were protesting the trial of Sheikh Isa Qassim.
“With our soul, with our blood, we sacrifice ourselves for you Qassim,” crowds chanted, some holding pictures of the cleric.
Qassim was not in court for Monday’s brief session which was held under tight security in the capital. The next session was scheduled for February 12, a judicial source said.
In June, the interior ministry stripped Qassim, 75, of his Bahraini nationality and accused him of abusing his position as a cleric to “serve foreign interests and promote … sectarianism and violence”.
He is also accused of misappropriating funds.
* Agence France-Presse
