News / Persian Gulf

Sheikh Ali Salma's daughter denied ID card by Bahraini regime

Sunday, 22 November 2015 12:13 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 22 November 2015 12:13 AM ]

A Bahraini boy marches during a demonstration against the arrest of Sheikh Ali Salman (pictured on the poster) who heads Bahrain’s main opposition bloc, al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, in Salman's home village of Bilad al-Qadeem, on the outskirts of the capital Manama on January 20, 2015. (AFP)

The Manama regime is refusing to issue an ID card for the daughter of imprisoned Bahraini opposition figure and Shia cleric, Sheikh Ali Salman.

In tweets shared on Saturday, Salman’s wife, Alia Radi, said that even though her daughter, Sareh, was over one-year-old the Bahraini government refuses to issue official identification papers for her over her father’s incarceration.

She added that many other innocent children in Bahrain suffer from the same plight solely because their fathers are being detained or have had their nationalities revoked.

Salman, who heads Bahrain’s main opposition bloc, al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, was detained on December 28, 2014 on charges of attempting to overthrow the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty and collaboration with foreign powers. He has strongly denied the charges, emphasizing that he has been seeking reforms in Bahrain through peaceful means.

On June 16, a Bahraini court sentenced Salman to four years in prison on charges such as insulting the country's Interior Ministry and inciting others to break the law. He was acquitted of seeking regime change.

On Friday, several Bahraini rights groups strongly denounced the Al Khalifah regime’s continued violation of the rights of hundreds of children in breach of UN conventions.

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) said that the authorities repeatedly violated the rights of children by imprisoning and committing acts of torture against them.

*Bahraini protesters hold their national flag and placards portraying Sheikh Ali Salman during a demonstration against his arrest, in the village of Diraz, west of Manama on June 12, 2015. (AFP)*

Anti-regime protesters have been holding demonstrations on the streets of Bahrain since mid-February 2011, calling for the ruling family to relinquish power.

The ongoing heavy-handed crackdown on peaceful demonstrations has left scores of people dead and hundreds injured.

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