Bahrain Sheikh Ali Salman stands appeal hearing as 33 states urge release of Prisoners of Conscience
Ahlul Bayt News Agency – Bahrain’s opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, is to stand his first hearing session in the Appeals Court today, just hours after 33 states said the human rights situation in Bahrain remains an issue of serious concern.
Sheikh Ali Salman is the opposition leader and Secretary General of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, the main opposition party in Bahrain. His hearing comes in conjunction with wide international condemnation for his arrest and prosecution.
The 33 states highlighted the lack of sufficient guarantees of fair trial in Bahrain and called for the release all persons imprisoned solely for exercising their human rights. The joint statement was signed by Andorra, Australia Austria, Belgium, Botswana, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The United States of America, Uruguay.
Leading international human rights organizations, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have considered Sheikh Ali Salman a prisoner of conscience undergoing an unfair trial that is lacking international standards. HRW’s Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson said, “The court’s refusal to consider crucial defense evidence confirms the political nature of Sheikh Ali Salman’s prosecution.” Adding, “The manifest unfairness of the trial means the authorities should release Salman immediately.”
The UN Special Rapporteur on rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, expressed continued concern that the charges against Sheikh Ali, may be a result of his dissenting views and his exercise of the freedoms of association and of opinion and expression, and request further information in relation to the judicial investigation.
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