MANAMA – Lawyers for three former editors of Bahrain’s main opposition newspaper told a court on Sunday the journalists were tricked into publishing false news about the Al Khalifa monarchy’s crackdown on the pro-democracy protesters as part of a plot to undermine a key opposition voice, AP reported.

The trial of the former Al Wasat editors is part of a sweeping crackdown on the island nation’s opposition, which has been protesting for greater rights and political freedoms in Bahrain.
The former editors were forced to resign from Bahrain's most widely read newspaper after the government imposed emergency rule in March to quell dissent.
The charges against the three men, who pleaded not guilty last month, include publishing false news and endangering public order. If convicted on all charges, they face at least two years in prison and hefty fines.
Two employees of Al Wasat newspaper told Bahrain's highest criminal court on Sunday that the fabricated information was overlooked because of the difficult conditions facing the kingdom's only opposition paper during the anti-government demonstrations.
The stories, describing actions against protesters that never occurred, came from an Internet address in Saudi Arabia, said Al Wasat's founder and former chief editor, Mansoor al-Jamri, during a hearing last week.
Another hearing in the case is set for July 3.
At least 31 people have been killed since Bahrainis started its campaign for greater freedoms in February.
Violence by Bahrain's authorities -- strengthened by a Saudi-led military force -- has been widespread and well documented since martial law was imposed March 15. Hundreds of protesters, opposition leaders, human rights activists and Shia professionals like doctors and lawyers have been arrested. Dozens have been tried in a special security court that had sentenced two activists to death.
Saudi Arabia has fully backed the Al Khalifa monarchy in part out of fears that the uprising could spread to the eastern parts of the Saudi kingdom bordering Bahrain.
Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was to meet with Saudi King Abdullah in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Sunday night to discuss the political awakening in his country, said a Saudi official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.
Bahrain's emergency rule was lifted June 1, thought trials of suspected opposition supporters continue in the special security court.
The ruling dynasty has proposed opening talks with opposition delegates on July 1, but the outreach has met with a cool reception from Shia leaders demanding that authorities roll back security measures and halt trials against activists.
The most influential political party in Bahrain's opposition, Al Wefaq, said it will not talk with the government as long as authorities continue their pursuit of opposition supporters and violate human rights.
“Such actions do not provide conditions for a meaningful dialogue,” Al Wefaq said in a statement Sunday