Bahrain upholds jail for 18, lifts travel ban on opposition leader

MANAMA: A Bahraini court upheld on Monday jail sentences of 10-15 years for activists convicted of launching attacks on police and forming a “terror group,” a judicial source said.
In the first case, the appeals court confirmed 15-year prison sentences against each of 10 defendants convicted of attempting to murder four policemen, the source said.
They targeted the policemen in April 2012 in the village of Akr, near the capital Manama, according to the charges.
In the second case, the court upheld 10-year jail terms against each of three activists convicted of attempting to murder policemen in the village of Karzakan in February last year.
The defendants were accused of opening fire on policemen who were dispersing demonstrators in the village.
The court also upheld jail terms against five defendants in a third case, convicted of forming a “terror group” which prepared a car bomb that police uncovered in the Sitra area.
Two defendants have been jailed for 15 years, while the remaining three each received 10-year sentences.
Meanwhile, a defense lawyer said a court has lifted a travel ban against the head of the country’s main opposition group.
Lawyer Abdullah Al-Shamlawi said on Monday that prosecutors agreed to a defense request to lift the ban against Al-Wefaq head Ali Salman.
Salman was summoned by authorities in late December for questioning on allegations of incitement over comments made in a sermon. He was accused of using sectarian language, inciting hatred against the government and promoted rioting and vandalism.
He was let go but barred from traveling abroad while prosecutors considered the case.
The development comes less than two weeks after Salman and other opposition leaders met with Bahrain’s crown prince in talks aimed at defusing nearly three years of unrest.