Rasa News Exclusive:

Court to appeal Sheikh Salman's case in 16 months: Sheikh al-Saleh

Rasa – The assistant secretary-general of Bahrain’s Islamic Action Society spoke exclusively to Rasa News international about the latest developments regarding the current situation of the two Bahraini opposition leaders, Ayatollah Isa Qasim and Sheikh Ali Salman.

News ID: 3099

Date: 09 August 2015 - 17:45

RNA – In an exclusive interview with Rasa News Agency, Shaykh Abdullah al-Saleh, the assistant secretary-general of Bahrain’s Islamic Action Society, spoke on the latest developments regarding the arrest of Shaykh Maytham al-Salman, The director of Religious Freedom Unit of the Bahrain Human Rights Observatory.

Shaykh al-Saleh stated that Shaykh al-Salman and all the human rights activists in Bahrain are always monitored by the government. The Al Khalifa regime attempts to justify this by claiming that their actions, which are peaceful, must be prevented. Shaykh al-Salman’s only crime is continuing his legal practice and was arrested for unknown reasons.

His Eminence said the main purpose for the detention of opposition leaders is so the Bahraini government can assert a united voice and flag on the political scene of the country. For this reason, we see that they have closed down the independent al-Wasat newspaper for unspecified reasons.

Shaykh al-Saleh stressed that the regime’s detention of scholars will not result in any change in the people’s struggle to achieve their legitimate demands. “After more than five years of revolution, all of the Bahraini people want a government of the people and to participate in determining the destiny of their country,” he said.

The secretary-general of the Islamic Action Society noted that since the beginning of the Bahraini Revolution in February 2011, many opposition leaders and about 70 scholars have been arrested by the government but they have not been able to weaken or undermine the revolution and these arrests have not stopped the people from calling for their demands to be met and they will not be forced to surrender.

Shaykh al-Saleh explained that there are about 16 religious scholars currently imprisoned in Bahrain, said that the Bahraini people’s revolution will not be pacified until all of its objectives are achieved. “Although the freedom of religious scholars is important but the main goal of this revolution is not to free scholars from prison but rather to free political prisoners is one of the demands of the Bahraini people,” he said.

In another part of his speech, the Shi’ite scholar described the current situation of Ayatollah Isa Qasim and Shaykh Ali Salman, the secretary-general of al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, saying that currently Ayatollah Isa Qasim is under watch by the al-Khalifa regime. Shaykh Ali Salman was arrested and 16 months from now, the court will appeal his case in the presence of his lawyer in the face of increased pressure from the prosecutor if he is not released from prison.

He said that the ultimate victory of this campaign will be with the people of Bahrain and added: “The people want democracy based on equality and justice and want government decisions to be based on these demands and [eventually] the Al Khalifa will have no choice but to accept the legitimate demands of the people.”

In conclusion, Shaykh al-Saleh emphasized the special status of the scholars among the people and stressed that the scholars have always been at the forefront of the Bahraini people’s revolution and as long the people’s demands are just and reasonable, the scholars will fight alongside the people.

It should be noted that yesterday, Shaykh Maytham al-Salman was detained at the Bahrain International Airport for unknown reasons by security forces and was transferred to criminal court.

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