Amir-Abdollahian:

Sheikh Salman’s life sentence indicates reign of terror in Bahrain

TEHRAN (defapress) – Iranian Parliamentary Director General for International Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has censured Bahrain for handing a life sentence to its opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman.

News ID: 73511

Date: 05 November 2018 - 14:48

In a tweet on Monday, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian wrote that Sheikh Ali Salman’s life sentence indicates the continuation of the reign of terror and crackdown in Bahrain.

“Today, a great number of Shias and Sunnis are imprisoned in a large prison called Bahrain,” said the Iranian official. “The solution is ‘dialogue’ not ‘life sentence’.”

Prominent Bahraini Shia cleric and opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, has been sentenced to life in prison after the Court of Appeal found him guilty of spying for Qatar – a country Bahrain cut ties with in 2017.

Following the verdict, Human rights group Amnesty said the decision “is a travesty of justice that demonstrates the Bahraini authorities' relentless and unlawful efforts to silence any form of dissent”

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi also condemned the decision, saying that “the verdict leaves no room for any doubt in public opinion and the international community that the government of Bahrain is not after bringing about reforms but it intends to intensify its crackdown on the dissidents and deteriorate the situation.”

Iran has called on Bahraini officials to abandon their police and security approaches towards the self-made crisis in the country and start meeting their own people’s legitimate demands by holding real and serious talks with the critics and opponents.

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