Bahrain Beefs Up Security ahead of Opposition Leader’s Trial
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Bahraini regime stepped up security on the eve of an appeal court hearing of the prominent opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman, who was earlier sentenced to four years in prison on political charges, local media said on Tuesday.
The first hearing of the court of appeal of Sheikh Salman, the secretary-general of al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, Bahrain’s main opposition bloc, is slated to be held on Tuesday.
Sheikh Salman’s trial has triggered condemnation inside and outside Bahrain, with leaders, governments and international organizations across the world calling for his immediate release.
In a statement read out by Switzerland to the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, 32 countries expressed deep concern about Bahrain's human rights record, urging the Western-allied kingdom to protect the right to peaceful assembly and address reports of torture.
Sheikh Salman was arrested in late December 2014 over alleged anti-regime incitements. Manama had accused him of seeking regime change and collaborating with foreign powers.
On June 16, a Bahraini court acquitted Sheikh Salman of the charge of trying to overthrow the government, but gave him a four-year jail sentence for other charges.
Insulting Bahrain's interior ministry and calling for defiance of the Arab country’s laws, were among the charges for which the court sentenced him to 4 years in prison.
Bahrain has been the scene of almost daily protests against the Al Khalifa regime since early 2011, when an uprising began in the Persian Gulf kingdom.
Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others wounded and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on peaceful protests.
