US citizen sentenced to 10 years in Bahraini prison

A U.S. citizen who participated in anti-government protests in Bahrain has been sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of attempted murder. But his lawyer and rights activists say the charges are false, and are just another sign of the increased crackdown on Bahrain’s Shiite majority.

Tagi al-Maidan was arrested in October on charges that he murdered someone during protests against Bahrain's ruling Sunni majority in 2011. Al-Maidan says he was coerced and tortured by police, leading him to make a false confession.

Al-Maidan has lived in Bahrain for most of his life but was born on U.S. soil.

The Bahraini government has denied any abuse in the incident, saying it has a "zero-tolerance policy" toward torture. But many human rights groups say al-Maidan’s arrest is only one in a slew of detentions of young Bahraini men who have been protesting the country’s monarchy and demanding increased rights for Shiites.

"The sentence was unexpected," his lawyer, Mohammed al-Jishi, told Reuters. "There is no conclusive evidence against Tagi. We will appeal as soon as possible."

While al-Maidan’s arrest may not be the first controversial one in Bahrain, it is likely to complicate relations between the Persian Gulf nation and the United States.

Bahrain is a U.S. ally in a volatile region and has long provided a base for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet. But it faces international criticism over its record on human rights.

Bahrain's government violently suppressed protests when many of its citizens, following in the footsteps of other Arab countries, took to the streets in 2011 to demand democratic rights.

More than two years later, the protests and the government crackdown continue. Last month, the government arrested several photographers and journalists and deported an American citizen who was accused of writing for radical, anti-government publications.

Al Jazeera and Reuters