Once again Middle Eastern politics take centre stage as Bahrain’s opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman gets a life sentence for alleged spying charges. The action was condemned by Amnesty International as a travesty of Justice stating “This verdict… demonstrates the Bahrainian authorities’ relentless and unlawful efforts to silence any form of dissent.”
This all stems back to 2011 when Ali Salman led the now outlawed Al-Wefaq movement, which was accused of stoking anti-government unrest in conjunction with Qatar. The unrest was quelled with the help of Bahrain’s neighbours, led by (Surprise Surprise) Saudi Arabia but seemed to have gone away only to resurface last year when Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt fell out with Qatar. His fellow Al-Wefaq leaders Hassan Sultan and Ali al-Aswad have also received life sentences.
Fortunately for Bahrain its strategic importance and friendship with Saudi Arabia means that it will receive little condemnation from the International community for its continued abuse of Human Rights.
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