Amnesty launches public campaign in support of Bahraini opposition leader

Amnesty International has launched a public campaign, which calls on the Bahraini regime to “immediately” and “unconditionally” release prominent Shia opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman.

The campaign’s statement, posted on Amnesty’s website on Thursday, said the Manama regime must be pressured to rescind the conviction of Sheikh Salman, who is a “prisoner of conscience.”

The statement further said the Shia cleric, who is the leader of the dissolved al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, has been imprisoned “solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression.”
The opposition chief has been in jail since 2014 for what the regime has called “insulting” government officials and “inciting” unrest through his speeches targeting the authorities during the uprising.

The Amnesty has accused Manama of subjecting Salman to “unfair” trial and using only excerpts of the speeches as evidence during the legal proceedings.