A Bahraini activist says the trial of Shia opposition detainees in Bahrain will not be fair as the Judiciary is totally swayed by the kingdom’s ruling family.

“I do not think there is going to be a fair trial. You cannot have a fair trial when the judge is accused himself,” Saeed al-Shahabi from Bahrain Freedom Movement said in an interview with Press TV on Thursday.

“In Bahrain the judge is appointed by the ruling family and he could be one of them. So, he is charging and trying people who he thinks are enemies,” he further explained.

During the trial of 27 Shia opposition activists at Bahrain’s High Criminal Court on Thursday, defendants complained that they were tortured by Bahraini authorities while in detention.

Defense attorneys argued that defendants had been abused while in detention. They also faced beatings and electric shocks and kept in solitary confinement.

Al-Shahabi ruled out the possibility of a just and lawful hearing while at the same time the defendants have been subject to torture and abuse.

” … You have these serious allegations of torture, and today they have proved to be not just allegations but facts when people expose their bodies to show serious wounds and one of them, Jaafar al-Hasabi, has said explicitly that he was sexually assaulted,” al-Shahabi went on to say.

The trial comes less than one week after the country’s parliamentary elections, which saw thousands demonstrating against what they insist is discrimination by the Sunni-led government.

Shias say they are discriminated against in housing, health, and education, in addition to government sector jobs.

Shias comprise 70 percent of Bahrain’s population, yet hold only 17 of the 40 seats in the directly-elected lower house of parliament.

Additionally, the upper house, or Shura Council, also has 40 members that are entirely appointed by the Bahraini King, Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and has vetoing power.

Moreover, the Bahraini king appoints all the country’s ministers.

The government came down hard on the Shia opposition and human rights activists leading up to the elections in August and has arrested more than 250 dissidents that were protesting the election campaigns.