Bahrain’s top military court sentenced six men to death on Monday after convicting them of charges including plotting to assassinate the Gulf state’s armed forces chief, state media reported. Tiny but strategic Bahrain has been gripped by unrest for years as its Sunni royal family has resisted demands from its Shiite majority for a constitutional monarchy with an elected prime minister. A judicial source told AFP that all six of those sentenced to death on Monday were Shiites. The other eight are on the run — either inside Bahrain or in Iran or Iraq. Human rights watchdogs say that counter-terrorism legislation has been abused to prosecute many peaceful opposition figures.

Source: The Guardian December 25, 2017 11:03 UTC