Bahraini protesters demand freedom for Sheikh Salman

Bahraini anti-regime protesters have once again staged demonstrations to voice their resentment at the continued detention of the leading opposition figure and Shia cleric Sheikh Ali Salman and other political activists.

Following Friday prayers, hundreds of people held demos in the northwestern village of Diraz, southeast of the capital Manama, and in the village of Sitra, south of the capital.

The marchers, holding portraits of Salman, also demanded an end to discrimination against Bahrainis, and the release of all political dissidents currently held in the Al Khalifa regime’s jails.

The regime’s security forces clashed with protesters and used teargas to disperse them.

Salman, who heads Bahrain’s main opposition bloc al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, was arrested on December 28, 2014, on charges of seeking regime change and collaborating with foreign powers. On June 16, a Bahraini court sentenced him to four years in prison.

He has strongly denied the charges, emphasizing that he has been seeking reforms in the kingdom through peaceful means.

The arrest triggered huge condemnations both inside and outside the monarchy, with leaders, governments and international organizations across the world calling for his immediate release.