Al-Wefaq held an event in Beirut on Friday (February 15, 2019) commemorating the eighth anniversary of the February 14 uprising that erupted in Bahrain in 2011.

Through the incriminating evidence the ruling family presented via the judiciary, it was, in fact, providing evidence for Sheikh Ali Salman’s acquittal, according to observers.

The UN Human Rights Office said on Friday there were “serious doubts” whether three Bahraini opposition leaders were given a fair trial after Bahrain’s highest court upheld this week their life sentences on charges of spying for Qatar.

Muslim Congresswoman Ilhan Omar joined the calls to release Bahraini opposition leader Secretary-General of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society Sheikh Ali Salman whom the cassation court has recently upheld his life term, which has drawn wide criticism from the international community.

The US Department of State said that the verdict issued by the cassation court in Bahrain against the opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman "narrows the space for free expression and political activity" in the country.

The European Union stressed that the "final verdict [issued on Monday] marks a further step against dissenting voices and undermines the residual chances for an inclusive political dialogue in the Kingdom of Bahrain."

The Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (GIDHR) issued a statement saying that Hakeem Al-Araibi is one step away from being handed over to Bahrain which he fled.

Commenting on the court upholding the life imprisonment sentence against the Secretary General of Al-Wefaq, Sheikh Ali Salman, the deputy secretary general of the Society, Sheikh Hussein Al-Daihi, described the judiciary in Bahrain as "Trash", indicating that the collapse of the security and judicial systems means the collapse of the state.

Hezbollah strongly condemned the Bahraini Court of Cassation's sentence to life imprisonment against opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman and former deputies Sheikh Hasan Sultan and Ali Al-Aswad on charges of "communicating with the State of Qatar."

Amnesty International said that upholding life sentence against Bahraini opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman is a bitter blow to freedom of expression.

The Bahraini regime's courts issued a final life sentence against Bahrain's national opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, and two former Al-Wefaq MPs today, Monday, January 28, 2019.

Bahrain's supreme court, whose verdicts are final, on Monday upheld a life term for Shiite opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman for spying for Gulf rival Qatar, a judicial source said.

Human Rights Watch issued its 2019 world report on human rights around the globe, in which it said that the Bahraini authorities continue repression in Bahrain through targeting dissidents and attacking freedom of expression and assembly.

Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (GIDHR) confirmed in a statement on its website that the judge who sentenced Hakeem Al-Araibi in 2014, Mohammad bin Ali Al Khalifa, is a member of the royal family, adding that he refused to consider Hakeem's evidence of innocence and claim of torture.

Dramatic developments have been witnessed in the case of “spying” for Qatar, which was raised by the authorities in Bahrain against the opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman and Al-Wefaq officials Sheikh Hassan Sultan and Ali Al-Aswad following the severing of relations with Qatar on June 5th, 2017.

The upcoming parliamentary elections in Bahrain, scheduled for November 24, 2018, are occurring in a repressive political environment that is not conducive to free elections, Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

British Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa Alistair Burt confirmed in his response to a Parliamentary question raised to him that his country has raised the case of Sheikh Ali Salman at senior levels with the Government of Bahrain.

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said the life sentence against opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman confirms the Bahraini regime's repressive nature.

Hundreds of citizens took part in angry protests rejecting the life sentence issued by the appeals court against opposition leader and Al-Wefaq secretary-general Sheikh Ali Salman. Protestors also condemned the government’s normalization attempts with Israel.

The Islamic Organizations in Britain called on the Bahraini authorities to release Sheikh Ali Salman, following the life term sentence issued against him.