Bahraini security forces have arrested and beaten more than 40 females protesting against the parliamentary by-elections in Bahrain, the country's main opposition group, al-Wefaq, says.
The female Bahrainis, including seven minors aged between 12 and 15, were arrested on Friday, one day before the by-elections -- boycotted by the opposition -- to replace 18 lawmakers who resigned from the parliament in protest to the crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.
"More than 40 Bahraini women were savagely arrested... in a commercial centre,” al-Wefaq said in a statement on Monday, adding that they were "beaten and humiliated."
Al-Wefaq condemned the females' arrests as "savage and inhumane,'' saying that they had only been expressing their "right to freedom of expression".
Election results in Bahrain show that more than 80 percent of the electorate refused to vote in the by-elections in the country.
According to a Bahraini government website, less than one in every five voters cast their ballots on Saturday.
Of the 144,513 eligible voters in 14 districts only 25,130 came out to vote, representing a 17.4 percent turnout, the Bahraini government's elections website www.vote.bh reported.
Voting did not take place in four districts where candidates were running uncontested and they automatically won the seats.
Al-Wefaq leader Sheikh Ali Salman said the results showed that Bahrainis rejected the king's reforms, adding, “There is no such thing as Bahraini democracy. There has to be peaceful rotation of power.”
“If there is no transition, Bahrain will remain in a crisis of security and human rights, this is a historic moment,” he added.
source : http://abna.ir
