Protesters gather in Bahrain, call for Salman’s release

Rasa - Demonstrators have taken to the streets in Bahrain in protest to the Manama regime’s crackdown on dissent and to show solidarity with political prisoners.

News ID: 425801

Date: 15 December 2016 - 19:15

RNA - Protesters could be seen on Wednesday, holding pictures of senior Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim and Sheikh Ali Salman, in various locations across the country.

The demonstrators were calling for the immediate release of Salman and all other political prisoners.

Sheikh Salman was initially sentenced to four years in prison. Bahrain’s Supreme Court of Appeal increased his jail term to nine years on May 30.

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.

Meanwhile, a sit-in protest being held outside Sheikh Qassim’s home in Diraz has entered its 179th day.

On June 20, Bahraini authorities stripped the 79-year-old cleric of his citizenship, less than a week after suspending the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, the country’s main opposition bloc, and dissolving the Islamic Enlightenment Institution, founded by Qassim, and the opposition al-Risala Islamic Association.

Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country on February 14, 2011. The protesters demand that the Al Khalifah dynasty relinquish power.

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