Courts in Bahrain have sentenced nearly two dozen anti-regime protesters to prison, including three minors, as the ruling Al Khalifah continue a heavy-handed crackdown in the tiny kingdom.

According to the LuaLua television network, the courts sentenced the dissidents to prison terms ranging from three years to live.

Seven of the defendants were sentenced to life in prison in absentia, while nine others were sentenced to ten years in prison, according to the report. Two other young dissidents were sentenced to five years in prison, and three minors were sentenced to three years each.

All the defendants were convicted of trumped-up terror-related charges and found guilty of forming a “terror” cell.

Pro-democracy activists scoffed at the rulings against the three minors, claiming that they had been denied their most basic rights in Bahrain's notorious prisons. They also warned against subjecting the minors to various forms of cruel mental and physical torture.

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