The dissolution of Bahrain’s main Shia opposition group, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, is a deplorable move on behalf of Manama, says UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
According to Press TV, Ban in a statement released on Monday said "The dissolution is the latest in a series of restrictions of the rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of association, and freedom of expression in Bahrain.”
On Sunday, Bahrain’s so-called administrative court ordered the dissolution of al-Wefaq and the seizure of its funds after the Bahraini Justice Ministry had suspended the opposition group’s activities on June 14.
Ban added that Bahrain’s latest move is similar to other actions such as the revoking of top Shia scholar Sheikh Isa Qassim’s citizenship and extending the sentence of al-Wefaq’s Secretary General, Sheikh Ali Salman – all of which risk escalating the already tense situation in the Persian Gulf state.
Meanwhile, Bahrain's four main Shia Muslim clerics have warned over the government’s widespread use of force against the nation, noting that it was not limited to political opposition.
"We, the Shia, as a main component of this homeland have become greatly convinced that we are being targeted in our existence, identity, beliefs, rituals and practices," said a statement published over social media and signed by Sheikh Abdullah al-Ghuraifi, Sheikh Abdul-Hussein al-Sitri, Sheikh Mohammed Saleh al-Rubaiyi and Qassim.
