Manama, March 25 – A senior leader of Bahrain Freedom Movement says the small Persian Gulf monarchy is under a junta rule meting out severe punishments on any protests.

“The military authorities…are now running the country, running the show, running the hospitals and they are running the media,” Saeed al-Shahabi, a top member of the movement said in a Friday interview with Press TV.

“So we are under a military takeover, a military regime that has suspended civil liberties and is imposing draconian laws on the people,” he added.

His comments come in the wake of Bahrain's heavy-handed crackdown on anti-government protesters that have been seeking political reforms in the tiny island nation.

Shahabi warned of further brutal suppression of protests and said the government has imposed an information blackout in the country and the outside world receives a fraction of information trickling out of the country.

At least 21 people, mostly protesters, have been killed since the start of the recent uprising in Bahrain, with the most recent victim dying on Thursday from gunshot wounds sustained in the previous week.

Shahabi noted that the casualty figure is expected to rise as Bahrainis prepare for more protests against the kingdom.

Amnesty International has condemned Bahrain's brutal crackdown on protesters ahead of mass demonstrations planned to follow Friday Prayers.