A Bahraini court has sentenced four anti-regime protesters to life in prison and a fifth person to 10 years in prison amid the ongoing harsh crackdown on the country’s dissent.

According to local media on Monday, the Bahraini defendants were found guilty of “blowing up a car” in November 2013 “to disrupt a Formula 1 race” in the country. Bahrain has held an annual Grand Prix race since 2011.

They were also found guilty of “making and possessing explosives, detonating explosives, and stealing a car with the aim of carrying out a terrorist act.”

The bombing reportedly occurred near a financial center in the Bahraini capital Manama. No one was injured or killed in the incident.

Earlier in May, a Bahraini court sentenced 12 anti-regime protesters to long prison terms of up to 15 years. The 12 young men were reportedly charged on May 7 with “attacking” the regime’s Saudi-backed security forces during anti-government protest rallies in two villages of the Persian Gulf state.

The country’s main opposition bloc al-Wefaq National Islamic Society described the sentences as “vengeful and oppressive.”

“The judiciary’s series of harsh sentences will only further complicate the situation and deepen the crisis,” the opposition bloc said.

Scores of Bahraini political activists have already been placed behind bars for organizing or taking part in anti-regime demonstrations across the oil-rich monarchy despite its appalling human rights record.

Moreover, the lengthy prison sentences come in conjunction with acquittals of the police officers and troops, who killed protesters in the brutal crackdown on peaceful protests in February 14, 2011.

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.

According to local sources, scores of people have been killed and hundreds arrested.

IA/AS/MAM