Bahrain jails 11 Shiite activists over protests

A Bahraini court on Sunday sentenced a group of Shiite opposition activists to jail terms over clashes with police in the Gulf state last year.

Eleven defendants were sentenced to between one and seven years behind bars, while four were acquitted because of a lack of evidence, a judicial source said.

Defence lawyers said they planned to appeal after the high-security hearing in the capital Manama.

The 15 went on trial over clashes between police and protesters in Shiite-populated areas in December. The clashes followed the death of a demonstrator at an opposition rally to demand compensation for victims of alleged human rights violations.

They were charged with unlawful assembly, stealing weapons, burning a police vehicle and committing other acts of violence against police.

The Shiite majority in Sunni-ruled Bahrain has been campaigning for compensation for alleged human rights violations in the 1980s and 1990s.

During the trial, the defendants, rights groups, and Bahraini opposition activists claimed that the accused had been tortured to extract confessions but the allegations were denied by Bahraini officials.