DUBAI: Bahraini police have arrested 20 people in a crackdown on villages, as legislators approved a constitutional amendment that could see civilians tried in military courts in the island kingdom.
The lower house of Parliament on Tuesday voted in favor of a constitutional amendment which drops a clause restricting military trials to offenses committed by members of the army, police or other security branches.
Under the amendment to Article 105, which also needs approval in Bahrain’s appointed upper house, civilians charged with “damaging public interest” or with terrorism — broadly defined — could now face trial in a military court.
The police media center published the names of the 20 people arrested, who include four women. They are aged between 20 and 65.
They published photographs of nine of them, including all four women. Those arrested face charges including “plotting acts of terrorism” and aiding and abetting fugitives.
Eight are accused of having “received military training on arms and the use of explosives in Iran and Iraq.”
Sporadic demonstrations have intensified since last week’s anniversary of the launch of the protests.
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20 arrested as Bahrain OKs civilians’ military trial
20 arrested as Bahrain OKs civilians’ military trial
Turkish lawmakers to vote on report advancing PKK peace process
- The vote in Ankara, proposes making legal reforms in parallel with the PKK laying down arms
ANKARA: A Turkish parliamentary commission was set to vote on Wednesday on adopting a draft report to facilitate the disarmament of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which would advance a peace process meant to end a more than 40-year conflict. The roughly 60-page report, shared with reporters ahead of the vote in Ankara, proposes making legal reforms in parallel with the PKK laying down arms, urging the judiciary to review legislation and comply with European Court of Human Rights and Constitutional Court rulings. Its core objectives are a “terrorism-free Turkiye” and strengthening democracy, said the draft, which presents a conditional legal framework that prompted some objections earlier in the week from opposition parties.
A vote to back the report would shift the peace process to the legislative theater, where President Tayyip Erdogan, Turkiye’s leader of more than two decades, has an opportunity to end a bloody conflict between the PKK and the state that has sown deep political, economic and social discord at home, and spread violence across borders into Iraq and Syria.
The commission was formed in August 2025 to support a potential new phase in efforts to end the conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people and stymied economic development in Turkiye’s mainly Kurdish southeast.
A vote to back the report would shift the peace process to the legislative theater, where President Tayyip Erdogan, Turkiye’s leader of more than two decades, has an opportunity to end a bloody conflict between the PKK and the state that has sown deep political, economic and social discord at home, and spread violence across borders into Iraq and Syria.
The commission was formed in August 2025 to support a potential new phase in efforts to end the conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people and stymied economic development in Turkiye’s mainly Kurdish southeast.
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