Bahrain opposition chief jailed for life over Qatar spy case

DUBAI: Bahrain’s appeals court sentenced the head of the country’s Shiite opposition movement to jail for life Sunday over charges of spying for rival Gulf state Qatar, a judicial source said.

Sheikh Ali Salman, who headed the now-banned Al-Wefaq movement, and two of his aides had been acquitted by the high criminal court in June, a verdict the public prosecution appealed, AFP reported.

The latest ruling on Sunday can also be appealed.
The public prosecutor said in a statement that the three had been unanimously sentenced by the appeals court for “acts of hostility” against Bahrain and “communicating with Qatari officials… to overthrow constitutional order”.
Salman is currently serving a four-year sentence in a separate case – “inciting hatred” in the kingdom, which has seen mainly Shiite protests against the Sunni monarchy since 2011, according to AFP.

In November, Salman and two other members of Al-Wefaq were charged with working for Qatari intelligence with the aim of overthrowing the Bahraini government.