Bahraini Court Upholds Jail for 13 Opposition Figures
A Bahraini court upheld Tuesday jail terms against 13 leading opposition figures, including seven facing life in prison, over charges of plotting to overthrow the Gulf monarchy, lawyers said.
The verdicts, originally issued by a military court, include eight life sentences. Defense lawyers have said the civilian court's decision may still be appealed against.
The defendants who played leading roles in the month-long protests last year demanding drastic democratic reforms did not turn up in the appeals court, the lawyers said.
The 13 activists were being retried in a civil court after they were convicted by a special semi-military court, along with seven others who remain at large, of plotting to topple al-Khalifa ruling family.
Another defendant was acquitted.
The prosecution had dropped charges against all defendants "related to the freedom of expression" which were considered illegal by the National Safety Court that was set up to try people who took part in the uprising.
Among those sentenced is activist Abdulhadi Khawaja who ended in June a 110-day hunger strike. "The verdict does not come as a shock. With no international consequences and accountability for the Bahrain regime, they have no incentive to change," Khawaja's daughter Maryam, a dissident activist abroad, said on Twitter.
Also sentenced were Hassan Musheime and Abdel Jalil al-Sankis, both leaders of the opposition movement, Haq [The Righst], as well as Sunni opposition leftist Ibrahim Sharif, who heads the Waed group.
In June last year, the specially formed tribunal handed down lengthy jail terms against the 21 mostly activists after convicting them of plotting to overthrow the regime.
Ten months later, Bahrain's highest appeals court ordered a retrial.
Bahrain came under strong criticism from international human rights organizations over last year's crackdown on the peaceful protests.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org
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