Manama court violated Salman’s right for fair trial: Lawyer

A lawyer representing prominent Bahraini opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, says the legal system of the country is violating the renowned cleric’s basic right for a fair trial, a sign that the Manama regime is against reconciliation with the opposition parties.

According to the reports, Jalila Alsayed said Monday that the court hearing the case has refused to pay attention to the videos of speeches by Salman on which the charges against him were based.
“In a public session the evidence has to be presented, otherwise the trial will lack the bases of fair trial,” said Alsayed, adding that in his speeches, Sheikh Salman strongly rejected violence and any militarizing of the popular movement.
“However, we strongly believe that Sheikh Ali never had the intention of calling for the overthrow of the regime by force and never called for violence, because he is not convinced of such an approach,” she added.
Alsayed said the court has also rejected the lawyers’ request for questioning one of the main witnesses of the case, who is an investigation officer at Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior.
“The defense panel believes that preventing the witness from being questioned is an attempt to hide the truth… which goes short of Sheikh Ali Salman’s fundamental right to defense,” she said.