“Determining the government via free elections is the preliminary demand of the people of Bahrain; [a demand] which they seek by means of peaceful protests,” Mehrdad Ba’ouj Lahouti said on Wednesday.
He further pointed out that governments which stand against the demands of their people by the use of force, oppression and hegemony have no place among the people and such authorities will certainly fall.
Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have staged numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power.
On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates arrived in the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on the peaceful protesters.
Bahraini forces have repeatedly used tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades to break up the demonstrations. According to local sources, scores of people have been killed and hundreds arrested.
“The people of Bahrain do not accept oppression and cruelty with the awakening which has been formed among them and they demand the overthrow of the puppet regime of Al Khalifa,” Lahouti noted.
Opposition rallies have continued in Bahrain in defiance of a government ban on public gatherings. The government’s harsh crackdown on demonstrations has also failed to keep protesters off the streets.
Bahraini protesters say they will continue holding demonstrations until their demands for the establishment of a democratically elected government and an end to rights violations are met.
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