Clashes broke out Saturday night between Bahraini security forces and participants in a procession in commemoration of the martyrdom of Sayyeda Fatima al-Zahra’s after the Interior Ministry banned these processions

Clashes broke out Saturday night between Bahraini security forces and participants in a procession in commemoration of the martyrdom of Sayyeda Fatima al-Zahra’s, the daughter of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and wife of Imam Ali (AS), in different areas in Bahrain after the Interior Ministry banned these processions.

Vehicles full of armed security forces had gathered in Manama streets and closed all the roads leading to the Bahraini capital in case of any flow of mourners from nearby villages and different areas to participate in the anniversary.

But mourning processions came out in the streets of the capital in an unusual move and without loudspeakers that are usually used in processions. However, the security forces intervened and used tear gas to disperse the participants, which led to clashes that lasted for more than an hour.

According to witnesses, the security forces had forced the mourning funerals in the capital to close and stop the lectures.

In the meantime, security forces have arrested a lawyer known for defending opposition figures, Human Rights Watch said on Sunday. Mohammed al-Tajer was arrested at his home on Friday by "more than two dozen uniformed and plainclothes security officers, most of whom were masked," HRW said in a statement, adding that no reason was given for his arrest.
  
"Human Rights Watch believes that Tajer is the first defense lawyer detained in more than a decade. He is well known for defending opposition figures and rights activists arrested in security sweeps," it said. "The government's arrest of a leading defense lawyer shows that Bahrain is taking a turn for the worse on human rights," Joe Stork, HRW's deputy Middle East director, said in the statement. "The authorities should either release Mohammed al-Tajer or charge him now with a recognizable offence."