A Bahraini court on Wednesday closed a Shiite clerics’ council, after authorities accused it of politicisation and illegal operations.
The court ordered the closure of the Olamaa Islamic Council and the liquidation of its assets following a suit by the ministry of justice, Islamic affairs and endowment, a judicial source said.
The ministry said in September that the office had been “functioning outside the law”.
The verdict came as authorities were trying to quell opposition action by Shiites, who make up the majority of the population in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.
The council led by the cleric Issa Qassem “violates the constitution and the laws of the kingdom”, the ministry said at the time, accusing its members of “using it to practise politics under a confessional cover”.
The council also “adopted the call for the so-called revolution”, it said, referring to Shiite-led protests against the government that erupted in February 2011.
* Agence France-Presse
