Manama: A case against Al Wefaq society in Bahrain will be referred to the public prosecution on charges of breaking the law, the General Director of Anti-corruption and Economic and Electronic Security said.
“The department has investigated recent statements by Al Wefaq on its website and Twitter account that are considered crimes punishable by the law,” he said.
“Al Wefaq is under suspicion of publicly inciting hatred against the government and disseminating false news in a way that could harm civil peace and national security,” he said late on Monday in a statement carried by Bahrain News Agency (BNA).
The director general charged that Al Wefaq “also made calls to hold illegal rallies and incited hatred against the Ministry of Interior and a foreign country.”
All the statements by Al Wefaq had been documented and will be referred to the Public Prosecution, he added.
Al Wefaq had 17 lawmakers in the 40-seat parliament in 2006 and 18 in 2010 after it took part in both parliamentary elections.
However, the society that boycotted the 2002 polls, the first to be held in Bahrain following a constitutional hiatus of almost three decades, left the parliament in February 2011 and did not take part in the by-elections months later or in the 2014 elections held in November.
The Ministry of Justice last year asked the society to regularize its situation to avoid legal issues.
In October, the High Administrative Court ruled that the society was “in contravention of the law that aims to ensure the transparency of political associations.”
The court said that Al Wefaq had failed to hold a legal general assembly and to make the necessary legal filing of the general assembly’s outcome.”
It added the evidence submitted in the case warrants a three month suspension of the society during which it should regulate its situation in compliance with the law’s provisions.
The society held its general assembly in December.
