Bahraini Crackdown: Opposition Leader Sheikh Ali Salman Loses Appeal against Life Sentence

Local Editor

Amid the continued crackdown against Shia dissents, Bahrain’s Al Khalifa regime’s Supreme Court on Monday upheld a life term for top opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, over the alleged “spying” for Qatar, a judicial source said.

The head of al-Wefaq National Islamic Association was convicted in November of "communicating with Qatari officials... to overthrow constitutional order", a ruling rights groups have called a travesty.

Sheikh Salman's aides Ali al-Aswad and Hassan Sultan, who had been sentenced to life in absentia, also lost their right to appeal. Both men are former MPs and currently reside outside of Bahrain, AFP reported.

Qatar, for its part, has repeatedly denied accusations of conspiring against Bahrain with Salman.

Bahrain and Qatar have been locked in a bitter regional dispute since June 2017, when a Saudi-led boycott of Doha was enforced over allegations it was ‘cozying up’ to Iran.

Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates banned their citizens from travelling to Qatar.

Relatively, human rights groups have frequently said cases against activists in Bahrain -- men and women, fail to meet the basic standards of fair trials.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team