Bahrain Mirror: The Fourth Criminal Court in Bahrain, headed by Judge Ali Khalifa Al-Dhahrani on Thursday (8 March 2018), adjourned the trial of opposition leader and Secretary-General of Al-Wefaq, Sheikh Ali Salman, and the two Al-Wefaq officials, Sheikh Hassan Sultan and Ali Al-Aswad, until March 22 to enable the defense to present their evidence.

The prosecutor's office accused Salman of communicating with Qatar over phone calls between him and former Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, as part of a political effort to resolve the crisis that broke out in Bahrain in February 2011.

Al-Wefaq denied the accusations raised against him, while Qatar's Prime Minister commented on the charges in a television program, stressing that the calls were conducted with the knowledge of the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa within the framework of a US-Gulf initiative to settle the crisis.

The Deputy Secretary General of Al-Wefaq, Sheikh Hussein Al-Daihi, confirmed that Hamad bin Jassim had two conversations with Sheikh Salman, one was in the presence of the King and the second with former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman.

In a hearing on Thursday (March 8, 2018), the Public Prosecution entered its pleading, demanding the maximum penalty for Al-Wefaq leaders, claiming that Sheikh Ali Salman had asked former Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani to prevent the Peninsula Shield troops from entering Bahrain.

The Public Prosecution alleged in its pleading that Sheikh Ali Salman and Sheikh Hassan Sultan received sums of money from Qatar to fund the pro-opposition Lualua TV, adding that Sheikh Ali Salman, Sheikh Hassan Sultan and Ali Al-Aswad received funds from the Qatari embassy in London.

The Prosecution also claimed that Sheikh Ali Salman assigned to Al-Wefaq's Ali Al-Aswad the task of traveling to Qatar and giving information about the military, the Interior Ministry, the National Guard and the National Security Agency to the former president of Al-Jazeera channel Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani.

Arabic Version