Dozens of protests took to the streets across Bahrain on the eve of the trial held for Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, the country’s most prominent Shiite leader. It is expected that a local court issues a verdict against him tomorrow Sunday.

Human rights organizations called on diplomatic missions of the UN Human Rights Council member-states to intervene in the trial of Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, the most prominent Shiite leader in Bahrain.

Al-Wefaq Secretary General Sheikh Ali Salman called on the Bahraini authorities to "rationalize" in reference to the verdict expected to be issued tomorrow Sunday in the case raised against Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim.

Sky News website said on Friday (May 5, 2017) that President Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi will visit Kuwait and Bahrain next Sunday.

Al-Mayadeen Channel said on its website that anxiety and tension in Bahrain escalated with the countdown of the sentence hearing of the highest religious authority in the country, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim.

Activists on social media outlets called for massive protests today, on the eve of the sentence hearing of spiritual leader for Shiite majority, Sheikh Isa Qassim.

Bahraini government's representative in Geneva, Deputy Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Dosari, said that his country will carefully study all the recommendations contained in the report, which amounted to 175 recommendations.

The Ministry of Interior denied the claims of some e-newspapers that inmates in Jaw Prison suffer from scabies.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain strongly condemned the statements made by the Ambassador of Syria to the Republic of Lebanon, which constitute an unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of Bahrain. The ministry considered that “these statements reflect a clear contradiction to the realities in the Kingdom which supports and guarantees all freedoms and rights and is a model of coexistence and tolerance among all”.

Deputy Chief of the SIU, Mohammad Khalid al-Hazza, said that the unit received 53 complaints that varied from torture, ill-treatment and use of excessive force by members of the public security forces.

Member of the Bahraini Parliament objected during their exceptional session on Wednesday (May 3, 2017), the proposal to replace Article 4 of the Decree-Law on the Commercial Registry in its amended form.

The Council of Representatives (Parliament) rejected a proposal law to amend some provisions of law no. (18) of 2014, suggesting appointing a committee of appeal judges to inspect prisons a maximum of twice a year.

Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and other organizations including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), addressed a letter to Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, calling on him to allow journalists to operate freely in the country.

The United Nations' Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted on Friday (May 5, 2017) recommendations to Bahrain on its human rights record, at the end of the 27th session of the Universal Period Review (UPR) on Bahrain in Geneva.

A statement issued by Bahrain's Shiite scholars called for the "public mobilization in all Bahraini areas on the night of the trial targeting the sect and the sacred Islamic Sharia."

A group of NGOs issued an appeal calling on international high-ranked officials and agencies to take public actions regarding the case of Bahrain’s Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, before his trial scheduled to be held next Sunday May 7, 2017.

Bahrain’s Islamic National Society Al-Wefaq demanded the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) to move from its “verbal condemnation” of Bahrain to introduce binding measured to stop the violations in the country.

Middle East Eye published a report revealing plans for building a new mosque in the Finnish capital Helsinki, with Bahraini funding. The report noted that this plan raised a lot of concerns of spreading extremist Wahhabi beliefs in the area.

The National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR)'s delegation to the 27th Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), led by NIHR's Chairman, Said bin Mohammed Al-Faihani, met the Chief of the Middle East and North Africa Section at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Mohammad Ali Al-Nsour.

Bahraini activist and executive director of (ADHRB) Husain Abdulla said that the recommendations presented to Bahrain, during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Bahrain’s human rights record in Geneva on Monday (May 1, 2017), are the fruits of the Bahraini organizations efforts and that of the Bahraini activists, inside and outside Bahrain, through their continuous meetings with the diplomatic delegations and foreign ministries of the states to reflect the real incidents taking place in Bahrain.