Bahraini protesters demand freedom of Sheikh Salman
Bahraini protesters have staged a demonstration to voice anger at the continued imprisonment of the leading opposition figure and Shia cleric, Sheikh Ali Salman.
Demonstrators held the protest in the northwestern village of Diraz, located about 12 kilometers (seven miles) southeast of the capital, Manama, following Friday prayers, demanding the release of Salman, who heads Bahrain’s main opposition bloc al-Wefaq National Islamic Society.
The marchers, carrying portraits of Salman and Bahrain’s national flags, also called for an end to discrimination against Bahrainis, and the immediate release of all political dissidents currently being held in the Al Khalifa regime’s jails.
Salman was detained on December 28, 2014 on charges of attempting to overthrow the incumbent regime and collaboration with foreign powers. He has strongly denied the charges, emphasizing that he has been seeking reforms in the kingdom through peaceful means.
On June 16, a Bahraini court sentenced Salman to four years in prison on charges such as insulting the Bahraini Interior Ministry and inciting others to break the law. He was acquitted of seeking regime change.
Earlier this month, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) renewed calls on the Manama regime to immediately release the al-Wefaq leader.
Anti-regime protesters have been holding demonstrations on the streets of Bahrain since mid-February 2011, calling for the Al Khalifa family to relinquish power.
The ongoing heavy-handed crackdown on peaceful demonstrations has left scores of Bahrainis dead and hundreds of others injured.
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