AI Calls for Immediate Release of Bahrain’s Al-Wefaq Chief
The statement was issued on Sunday a few days after the Court of Cassation in the tiny Persian Gulf Arab country commuted the jail sentence of Sheikh Salman, the leader of the dissolved al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, by five years.
Amnesty International underlined that the Manama regime must immediately and unconditionally release the senior cleric.
The rights organization also urged respect for freedom of expression and abolition of laws that criminalize peaceful measures.
The opposition leader has been in jail since 2014 for what the regime has called "insulting” government officials and "inciting” unrest through his speeches targeting the authorities during the uprising.
The Amnesty has accused Manama of subjecting Salman to "unfair” trial and using only excerpts of the speeches as evidence during the legal proceedings.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has likewise called for Salman’s immediate release and for him to receive adequate compensation.
