A Bahraini court has acquitted three senior leaders of the country’s main opposition group of charges of spying for Qatar.
It is a rare win for opposition figures who say they have been targeted by prosecutors for their political views, reported Gulf Times.
In November, the public prosecutor accused Sheikh Ali Salman, opposition Al Wefaq group secretary general, and Sheikh Hassan Sultan, a former member of the Bahraini parliament for Al Wefaq, of conspiring with Qatari officials to carry out ‘hostile acts’ in the kingdom.
Groups including the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), and the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, confirmed his acquittal.
“Sheikh Ali Salman was found innocent,” said Sheikh Maytham Al Salman of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights. “We hope this ruling opens the way for dialogue and reconciliation.”
Sheikh Ali has been behind bars since 2014 serving a four-year jail sentence on charges of inciting hatred, reported the South China Morning Post.
In November, he pleaded not guilty to new charges of communicating with a foreign state to commit acts hostile to the state of Bahrain — specifically Qatar.
BIRD hailed the verdict as ‘the end of a long, flawed trial.’
“This case should never have been initiated in the first place. We hope this ruling opens the way for dialogue and reconciliation,” Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at BIRD, said.
In Washington, a US State Department spokeswoman welcomed the verdict and called for Salman's release.
“The acquittal removes a potential barrier to political reconciliation in Bahrain, and we urge Bahraini prosecutors not to pursue an appeal of the judge’s ruling,” spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.
His supporters said that Sheikh Ali was asked to mediate between Qatar and Bahrain in 2011 following tensions between the two countries.
He was charged in November 2017 of working with Qatar against the Manama regime, with Bahrain also accusing Doha of attempting to overthrow the government.
Qatar and Sheikh Ali have denied the allegations.
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