Al Khalifa Seeking to Challenge Bahrainis’ Will by Extending Salman’s Jail Term: Opposition Figure

On Monday, Bahrain’s Supreme Court of Appeal increased a four-year prison sentence already issued against Sheikh Salman by five more years.

The move by the al-Khalifa regime conveys this message that every request for “democracy, freedom and freedom of speech” in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom will receive the regime’s harsh response, Rashed al-Rashed told the Tasnim News Agency on Tuesday.

He added that the Manama regime is also trying to tell this to the international community that the situation is under control inside the country.

Rashed, who is also a leader of Bahrain’s February 14 movement, further said that more than 5,000 Bahraini activists are in the regime’s jails despite calls by the international community and human rights bodies for their immediate release.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has repeatedly urged the regime to release the inmates including Sheikh Salman, saying dialogue must replace suppression.

Rashed stressed that the Bahraini nation has no choice but to continue the revolution to overthrow the Al Khalifa regime.

On Tuesday, Bahrainis held hundreds-strong protests throughout Manama, venting rage at the ruling of the supreme court.

The protesters defied a curfew placed over the village of Saar, west of the capital, chanting angry slogans and setting the British flag on fire.

Protesters also took to the streets in the Bilad al-Qadeem area of Manama, calling for the immediate release of Sheikh Ali Salman.

Security forces fired tear gas canisters in the al-Ma’ameer area south of the capital to counter a similar protest.

The Shiite cleric, Salman, who is the secretary general of Bahrain's main opposition bloc al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, was arrested on December 28, 2014 after the Al Khalifa accused him of seeking regime change and collaborating with foreign powers.

Since 2011, the Manama regime has been cracking down on political dissent.