RNA – In an exclusive interview with Rasa News Agency, Hujjat al-Islam Abdullah Ibrahim Saleh, the deputy secretary-general of Bahrain’s Islamic Action Society and a professor in the Islamic Seminary explained that through sentencing Shaykh Ali Salman, the Al Khalifa regime seeks revenge against this revered Shi’a scholar and pro-democracy activist.
On Tuesday, Bahrain condemned Shaykh Salman to four years in prison on charges related to his alleged incitement against the ruling system.
Hujjat al-Islam Saleh said that Bahrain’s November 2014 parliament and municipal elections was met with a boycott by the opposition and revolutionaries and therefore, the arrest and prosecution of political and religious leaders is a form of revenge on them.
He considered the sentence against Shaykh Ali Salman as one of the Al Khalifa regime’s deceitful tricks and added that the arrest of the general-secretary of al-Wefaq is illegal, thus the Bahraini judiciary should not prosecute him under the current circumstances.
The Bahraini scholar called for a review of the sentence against Shaykh Ali Salman and requested that the Bahraini government, which issued this illegal and unjust decree, and the country’s judiciary to acquit him immediately and release him unconditionally.
Hujjat al-Islam Saleh explained that the trial of Shaykh Ali Salman could be the first step to arrest Ayatollah Shaykh Isa Qasem, the spiritual leader of Bahraini Shi’as, because this government is foolish and it is possible that this is what they are attempting to do.
The deputy secretary-general of Islamic Action Society stressed that the increased demonization and suppression of the Bahraini people is to the detriment to the rule of the Al Khalifa regime, saying: “Ayatollah Isa Qasem has stressed numerous times that there is no going back for the people of Bahrain in relation to their revolution. In his last statement, Ayatollah Isa Qasem explained ‘Until the people of Bahrain reach ther goals, they will not retreat.’”
Hujjat al-Islam Saleh referred to a press conference convened by members of the al-Wefaq Society, saying: “We ask the international community and human rights organizations to pressure the Al Khalifa regime to prevent this sentence on Shaykh Ali Salman and to free him,” he stated.
The revered Bahraini scholar stressed that the Al Khalifa regime is supported by the House of Saud, the United States and the United Kingdom in their crimes against the people of Bahrain, such that they gave the “green light” to arrest Shaykh Ali Salman and prosecute him. For this reason, international organizations must emphasize the implementation of true democracy in this country.
He called for the implementation of justice in Bahrain and added that the Bahraini people must be given their rights to be the source of their government and to have control over it.
At the end of the interview, Hujjat al-Islam Saleh stressed that Al Khalifa regime’s brutality against the Bahraini people has reached the end and added that this regime should say goodbye to the people.
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