DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A decade after demonstrators massed in Bahrain’s capital to call for the downfall of their government in 2011, authorities continue to suppress all signs of dissent. For weeks beginning on February 14, 2011, thousands thronged streets across Bahrain, emboldened and energized by pro-democracy protests roiling Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. A decade on, activists inside Bahrain and in exile say their country is far less free than it was in 2011. Bahrain blamed Iran for stirring up the 2011 protests as well, though the report by Bassiouni and other experts found no evidence of that. Nabeel Rajab, one of the 2011 protests’ most-prominent leaders, only was released last year into home detention due to the coronavirus pandemic after serving years of an internationally criticized prison sentence.

Source: Egypt Independent February 11, 2021 18:45 UTC