Protesters gathered in the country’s various districts on Friday calling for an end to crimes being increasingly committed by elements of the al-Khalifa regime and change in the ruling system. They also renewed their calls for freedom of tens of prisoners who are jailed by the regime for taking part in peaceful demonstrations. The protesters chanted slogans demanding elements of the regime be tried at international criminal courts.
Demonstrators were also protesting a decision by authorities to hold the Bahrain Grand Prix Formula One as scheduled irrespective of a bloody crackdown launched by brutal Bahraini regime against its own people.
According to witnesses, clashes broke out as regime troops attempted to disperse the demonstrators. Protesters also responded with Molotov cocktails.
Demonstrators in the tiny Persian Gulf island nation have been staging protest rallies in solidarity with political prisoners and against the international motor racing event, due to be held on April 21.
A day before the gathring al-Khalifa regime troops invaded 13 buildings in al-Deraz and al Noaimi regions near capital Manama, arresting 4 people.
Bahrainis have been staging demonstrations since February 2011, calling for political reform and a constitutional monarchy, but the calls later turned to demands for the ouster of the ruling Al-Khalifa family.
Meanwhile, companies who help to bankroll Formula One motor racing are limiting their involvement in the Bahrain Grand Prix this month, saving some of their marketing dollars for less politically sensitive races.
The grand prix was cancelled in 2011 following a bloody crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising, but sponsors were left squirming last year when the sport's rulers ignored calls by campaigners in Bahrain and abroad for teams not to race, while police and youths staged nightly clashes with teargas and petrol bombs.
The race on April 21 will again draw attention to the human rights situation in the Persian Gulf island kingdom.