The courts in Bahrain have handed down 3,500 years of prison sentences to anti-government protesters over the past three months, the country’s main opposition bloc says.

The al-Wefaq National Islamic Association condemned the Manama regime for intensifying its crackdown on dissent, saying the prison terms were passed against 320 people on political charges.

The association also said the Manama regime arrested over 300 opposition figures during the three months starting in July.

The incarcerated individuals included five women and 30 children, al-Wefaq added.

During the period, there were over 600 house raids across Bahrain and the nationalities of 18 people were also revoked over political charges, the opposition group said.

The association also pointed to over 100 cases of torture and ill-treatment of opposition by the regime during the same period.

Since mid-February 2011, thousands of anti-regime protesters have held 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 invaded the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on peaceful protesters.

Many Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds injured and arrested in the regime’s ongoing crackdown on peaceful demonstrations.

ASH/HMV/SS