Bahrain’s Top Court Upholds Sentences against Opposition Leaders

Local Editor

Bahrain's highest appeal court upheld Monday sentences against 13 opposition leaders, a defense lawyer said, in a decision that could further fuel unrest in the US-allied Gulf Arab state.

The sentences, originally handed down by a military court and upheld by a civilian court in September last year, range from five years in prison to life sentences. Monday's decision can't be appealed, the lawyer said.
"This verdict is final, there are no more appeals possible, it is the last stage of litigation," lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi stated.

Twenty uprising leaders had been sentenced, but only 13 filed appeals. Some had been tried in absentia because they were out of the country or in hiding, Jishi said.
The men who received life sentences included rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and opposition leader Hassan Mushaimaa, who has advocated turning the kingdom of Bahrain into a republic.

Meanwhile, Bahraini protesters continued demonstrations all over the kingdom to express solidarity with jailed human rights activists and demand their immediate release.

On Sunday, protesters took to the streets in the village of Sanabis, west of the capital Manama, and shouted anti-government slogans in defiance of a heavy-handed security crackdown, AFP reported.

The demonstrators demanded the release of all political prisoners and demanded that King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa step down from power.

This comes as new footage posted online shows Bahraini forces hitting a woman violently as she was trying to protect her young brother, Press TV reports.
The video shows the Bahraini forces attacking the woman and the young boy in the northern village of Al-Daih.

In the video, an officer shoves the woman as she tries to prevent her brother from being taken away.
The incident comes days after another online video showed a Bahraini policeman slapping a man holding his baby in his arms in the village of Aali.

Source: News agencies, Edited by moqawama.org