Bahrain under the microscope

Bahrain under the microscope Interview with Lebanese activist, journalist and blogger Sondoss Al-Asaad about the situation in Bahrain. 1) Can you remind the readers what Bahrain is today and the composition of its population? A) Bahrain is a tiny geostrategic island composed of 33 smaller archipelagos situated near the western shores of the Persian Gulf, with a 765.3 km2 area. There is no official statistics regarding the population, which makes political naturalisation easier to implement and allows elections to be misrepresented. 2) When did the Bahraini protests start and why did the population start demonstrating in the streets? A) In 2011, tens of thousands of Bahrainis flocked into the streets in a bid of gaining some of their fundamental rights. Nevertheless, they were suppressed, thousands were fired from their jobs, arrested along with 13 of the opposition leaders, dozens were killed extrajudicially and severely tortured, 28 Shitte mosques were demolished, etc.