Bahraini Rights Activists Urge Pressure on Manama to Release Opposition Figure

The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), and European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR) issued a joint statement, urging the immediate and unconditional release of the cleric.
They said an upcoming trial of Sheikh Salman on charges of espionage and talking on the phone with Qatar is just part of moves to silence dissent ahead of the parliamentary election in the Persian Gulf country.
Bahrain’s general prosecutor has demanded death sentence for the cleric on the trumped-up charges.
The new trial for Sheikh Salman is slated to be held on Thursday.
Sheikh Salman was initially sentenced to four years in prison. Bahrain’s Supreme Court of Appeal increased his jail term to nine years in May last year.
The cleric was arrested in December 2014 on charges of attempting to overthrow the Manama regime and collaborating with foreign powers.
Sheikh Salman has denied the charges, saying he has been seeking reforms in the country through peaceful means.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has repeatedly called on the Manama regime to release the 51-year-old cleric.
Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the kingdom on February 14, 2011.
They are demanding that the Al Khalifa dynasty relinquish power and a just system representing all Bahrainis be established.
On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to Bahrain to assist the Manama government in its crackdown.
Scores of people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries or got arrested as a result of Al Khalifa regime’s crackdown on anti-regime activists.

Source: IQNA