Bahrain, 2011 — dissident coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 15 June 2011, during the aftermath of the crushed February and March 2011 pro-democracy uprising in Bahrain, when the Sunni-led monarchy of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa prosecuted opposition figures on charges that included plotting to overthrow the government. The uprising, part of the broader Arab Spring and led largely by the Shia majority demanding reform, had been suppressed in mid-March 2011 with the help of Saudi and other Gulf troops sent in under the Peninsula Shield Force, followed by a state of emergency and a wide crackdown. In the months that followed, authorities put opposition leaders and activists before a special security court on charges such as plotting to topple the monarchy and having foreign, notably Iranian, backing.
On 22 June 2011, a week after this entry's coded date, that court handed long sentences, including life imprisonment, to prominent opposition figures over the protest movement the government framed as a conspiracy. The 15 June 2011 coding sits in this period of trials and the official narrative of a foiled plot against the ruling family, a framing that opposition figures and rights groups rejected as the criminalization of peaceful dissent.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
69206152011
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: The Al Khalifa monarchy crushed the uprising and prosecuted opposition leaders.
Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
CSP
AlArabiya
The Ottawa Citizen
The Australian
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →