DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Bahrain suspended the country’s largest Shiite opposition group in a surprise court hearing Tuesday, intensifying its crackdown on dissent five years after Arab Spring protests rocked the island kingdom.

The Al-Wefaq opposition group has been suspended before amid turmoil over the protests and lingering unrest. The small Shiite-majority island off the coast of Saudi Arabia is ruled by a Sunni monarchy, which has imprisoned several activists and deported others.

A statement from the Justice and Islamic Affairs Ministry carried on the state-run Bahrain News Agency accused Al-Wefaq of creating “a new generation that carries the spirit of hatred,” and of having links with “sectarian and extremist political parties that adopt terrorism.” It said a court in Manama ordered the party suspended and its funds frozen.

Abdulla al-Shamlawi, the lawyer who represented Al-Wefaq in court, denied all the allegations.

He said he was served the court papers only Tuesday morning for the hearing and had to argue to be allowed to offer any sort of rebuttal. He said the complaint alleged Al-Wefaq had damaged Bahrain’s national security since its inception in 2001 and also included allegations about it causing unrest during the 2011 protests.