Reports say that Bahraini security forces have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who are calling for a mass boycott of parliamentary elections planned for Saturday."The protesters have tried to take to the streets in a number of villages around the country and they have been immediately met with brutal police repression. Police have been firing tear gas, rubber bullets, shotgun pellets and other types of objects at protesters who are largely unarmed in these villages. Those who are carrying anything are stones and maybe paint to throw at police vehicles," a source in Bahrain told Al Jazeera on Friday.
Protesters on Friday marched to Manama's Pearl Square, the former focal point of Bahrain's uprising that broke out in February. Bahraini authorities have increased pressure on anti-government activists ahead of the elections, threatening those who use the internet to urge acts of dissent with jail.
Sheik Isa Qassim told followers in a mosque in Diraz, an opposition stronghold northwest of the capital Manama, that the vote on Saturday is meaningless.
"There is a class of society under repression and there are obstacles at every turn, blocking their voice. This is fake democracy." he said during Friday's sermon.
Manama's Pearl Square has been heavily guarded since Bahraini security stormed the protesters' encampment there six months ago. On Friday, police checkpoints were erected on the streets leading up to the square. Armored police vehicles were parked nearby and riot police were lined up behind the vehicles.
The opposition's boycott of Saturday's vote will likely increase the power of the kingdom's Sunni rulers, who have so far managed to ride out six months of protests.