DUBAI, Sept 29: A Bahraini court handed jail terms of up to 15 years on Sunday to 50 people, including a prominent Iraqi cleric, convicted of forming a clandestine opposition group, a judicial source said.

Sixteen defendants were given 15-year terms, while four were jailed for 10 years and the other 30 for five, the source said. The Shia defendants, including Iraqi cleric Hadi al-Mudaressi who was tried in absentia, were charged with forming the “February 14 Revolution Youth Coalition”, which Bahraini authorities accused of terrorism.

The group has been the main driving force behind a Shia-led uprising that began in 2011 to demand more rights for the majority community from the ruling dynasty.

Several defendants were tried in absentia, including Saeed al-Shahabi, a key London-based opposition figure.

Among those sentenced to five years in jail is a woman arrested in April during practice sessions for the Formula One Grand Prix on suspicion of plotting to carry out an attack on the Sakhir circuit, which hosts the world motor sport event.

Police at the time said two women were arrested, saying one of them had concealed a pillow under her clothes as a dry run to test security measures. The interior ministry in June named 11 suspects who were arrested in the case, in addition to 13 people who lived abroad. Authorities said at the time that they were still hunting down others.—AFP