Top Bahraini court upholds jail terms against relatives of rights activist

Bahrain’s supreme court of appeals has upheld three-year prison terms against three family members of a prominent activist living abroad, a rights group says.

Back in October 2017, a Bahraini court sentenced the three family members of exiled activist Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, who is the head and founder of the London-based rights group Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), on the charge of planting a “fake bomb” in January 2017. An appeals court upheld the sentence in December the same year.

PressTV-Bahrain sentences activist's family to prison

A Bahrain court sentences three family members of a prominent Britain-based human rights activist to jail terms.

Earlier this year, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention deemed the ruling an “unlawful” act of reprisal over family connections.

On Monday, Bahrain’s Court of Cassation rejected the appeal of Alwadaei’s mother-in-law, Hajer Mansoor Hassan, brother-in-law Sayer Nizar Alwadaei, and cousin Mahmood Marzooq Mansoor, the BIRD said in a statement, condemning "today’s decision in the strongest term and urges the Bahraini authorities to ensure their immediate and unconditional release."

A family attorney also confirmed the ruling, which is the final appeal.

“This is what you expect from a corrupt injustice system. I will not rest until my family is free. Their continued imprisonment is a shameful reminder of the UK’s weak position when dealing with human rights abuses committed by an ally country,” Alwadaei said.

Last month, Bahrain’s criminal investigation department said the three had been sentenced for "terrorist crimes," rejecting criticism by the UN group that the three were held due to their kinship with Alwadaei.

On Sunday, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other rights groups urged Bahraini authorities to dismiss the charges.

PressTV-Amnesty raps verdicts on Bahraini activist's family

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have censured the prison sentences given to three family members of a prominent Bahraini activist.

Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country in mid-February 2011.

They are demanding that the Al Khalifah regime relinquish power and allow a just system representing all Bahrainis to be established.

Manama has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent. On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to assist Bahrain in its crackdown.

Scores of people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries or got arrested as a result of the Al Khalifah regime’s crackdown.

On March 5, 2017, Bahrain’s parliament approved the trial of civilians at military tribunals in a measure blasted by human rights campaigners as being tantamount to imposition of an undeclared martial law countrywide.

Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah ratified the constitutional amendment on April 3, 2017.

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