JURIST - Paper Chase: Bahrain government announces legal actions against opposition group

[JURIST] Bahrain [official website, in Arabic] on Saturday announced that it would pursue legal proceedings against the al Wefaq [official website, in Arabic] political party, which it labels an opposition group, for engaging in anti-government protests in the face of a ban [JURIST report] of those activities. Bahrain officials claim [Reuters report] that al Welfaq organized anti-government protests on Friday that resulted in the arrest of six dissidents. The protests had been banned by the Bahraini government, however government officials have not taken action directly against the group in the past.

Protests and demonstrations in Bahrain [BBC backgrounder] have been ongoing since February 2011 [JURIST report]. In August, a Bahraini appeals court overturned a conviction [JURIST report] of prominent human rights activist Nabeel Rajab [JURIST news archive]. In February, a Bahraini court dropped charges [JURIST report] of inciting protest and calling for regime change against former member of parliament and al Wefaq leader Matar Matar [official twitter]. JURIST guest columnist Ryan Suto discusses how the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry acts [JURIST op-ed] as a method of rule-of-law in post-conflict resolution.