Bahrain Court Orders Life Sentence for Senior Shia Cleric
A statement from the public prosecutor said the court sentenced Sheikh Ali Salman, opposition al-Wefaq group secretary general, and Sheikh Hassan Sultan and Ali Alaswad, members of the same group, to life in jail, Reuters reported.
Sheikh Ali Salman is a senior Bahraini Shia cleric who has been in jail on a nine-year prison sentence since late 2014 for what the Manama regime has called “insulting” government officials, “inciting” unrest through his speeches targeting the authorities during the 2011 uprising, attempting to overthrow the regime and collaborating with foreign powers.
He denies all the charges, saying he has merely been seeking reforms in the country through peaceful means.
Amnesty International and other human rights groups have censured his arrest and called for his release.
The Manama regime has gone to great lengths in recent years to clamp down on any sign of dissent.
Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country in mid-February 2011.
They are demanding that the Al Khalifa regime relinquish power and allow a just system representing all Bahrainis to be established.
