The Bahraini authorities should halt immediately their heightened crackdown on peaceful critics and opponents, Amnesty International said today. The call comes after scores of protesters and at least 60 Shi’a clerics were summoned and arrested in relation to a sit-in in the village of Duraz, north-west of Bahrain that began in June. Four clerics have been sentenced to between one and two years in prison in relation to the sit-in and nine others remain in detention and are facing trial. Several human rights defenders have also been prevented from travelling outside of Bahrain to take part in human rights advocacy work.
