Bahrain Crackdown: Regime Adjourns Opposition Leader’s Sentencing Hearing

Local Editor

The Al Khalifa regime's High Appeal Court adjourned Sunday the sentencing hearing of the opposition leader and Secretary General of the dissolved al-Wefaq Society, Sheikh Ali Salman, until December 12 for further deliberation.

This is the second time the appeal court looks into the case. The cassation court had overturned on October 17, 2016 the prison sentence issued against Sheikh Salman, referring the case once again to the appeal court.

Sheikh Ali Salman was arrested on December 28, 2014 after hearing his statement at the General Directorate of the Criminal Investigations Department.

On June 16, 2015, the High Criminal Court acquitted the opposition leader of charges of attempt to overthrow the regime by force, yet sentenced him to two years in prison over charges of inciting hatred against a sect and insulting the Interior Ministry.

The court also issued a two-year prison sentence against him over disobedience of the law.

The High Appeal Court, presided over by one of the ruling family members, Mohammad bin Ali Al Khalifa, toughened the sentence against Sheikh Salman on May 30, 2016 from 4 to 9 years of imprisonment.

Bahrain, a close ally of the US in the Gulf region, has been witnessing almost daily peaceful protests against the ruling Al Khalifah regime since mid-February 2011.

The authorities had also ruled that the assets belonging to al-Wefaq be auctioned off. The crackdown on al-Wefaq had drawn criticism from the United Nations [UN] chief Ban Ki-moon and prominent rights groups.

Manama's heavy-handed crackdown on demonstrations, aided by Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, had left scores of people martyred and hundreds others injured.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team