Bahrain sentenced the head of the country's Shiite opposition movement to life in prison Sunday for spying for rival Gulf state Qatar in a ruling rights groups have called a travesty.

A Bahraini court on Sunday ordered life sentences for three senior opposition members, overturning a previous acquittal on charges of spying for Qatar in what an international rights group called a “travesty of justice”.

The National Islamic Al-Wefaq Society confirmed that the Bahraini judiciary has become a tool in the hands of the ruling authority. "Issuing a life sentence against the opposition leader after a previous acquittal ruling reflects the magnitude of chaos and subordination, which is no secret to anyone,” it said.

President of SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights, Jawad Fayrouz, said today that the ruling against opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman and the two former MPs of the opposition bloc, Sheikh Hassan Sultan and Ali Al-Aswad, is an act of "political revenge with distinction.”

SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights said that “the verdict issued against the leader of the opposition, based on the US-Gulf mediation, has been made in an unfair trial and by an non-independent judiciary, but rather by a tool of repression used by the authorities in Bahrain.”

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister Alistair Burt said that he’s very concerned by the life sentence handed down by the Appeals Court of Bahrain today to Sheikh Ali Salman.

A number of dissidents and activists in Bahrain expressed their solidarity with the Secretary-General of Al-Wefaq Sheikh Ali Salman on the eve of his verdict was set to be announced, as well as prominent opposition figures Sheikh Hassan Sultan and Ali Al-Aswad on charges of "communicating with Qatar."

Bahrain's Court of Appeals sentenced on Sunday (November 4, 2018) opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman and senior opposition officials Sheikh Hassan Sultan and Ali Al-Aswad to life in prison for "communicating with Qatar."

The High Appeal Court decided to postpone the acquittal appeals of Sheikh Ali Salman, Secretary-General of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, to November 4, 2018.

Bahrain’s Appeals Court adjourned on Wednesday (September 26, 2018) case of opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman until October 15.

The Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society considered the trial of opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman a political trial that aims to try the project of a collective state, which is based on law and institutions and in which the people are the source of power.

Bahrain’s public prosecutor has appealed a court ruling that acquitted three senior leaders of the country’s main opposition group on charges of spying for Qatar, state news agency BNA reported on Wednesday.

The Public Prosecution said that it appealed the ruling of the High Court of Appeals that acquitted the opposition leader and Al-Wefaq Secretary-General, Sheikh Ali Salman, adding that the Appeals court decided to consider the objection on September 5.

The Islamic National Tribune (Al-Menbar) Society, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Bahrain, rejected Washington’s demand to the Public Prosecution not to appeal the verdict acquitting Bahraini opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman of “colluding with Qatar” charge.

Prominent Shiite cleric in Bahrain who led a now-shuttered opposition party was acquitted Thursday of spying charges with two colleagues, marking a rare victory for activists in the island kingdom.

A Bahraini court acquitted the jailed head of the Shia opposition of all charges on Thursday in his trial for alleged spying for regional rival Qatar, prompting the kingdom’s attorney general to announce he would appeal.

A Bahraini court acquitted the head of the Shiite opposition of all charges Thursday in his trial for alleged spying for regional rival Qatar, a judicial source and activists said.

A prominent Shiite cleric in Bahrain who led a now-shuttered opposition party was acquitted Thursday of spying charges with two colleagues, marking a rare victory for activists in the island kingdom amid a yearslong clampdown on dissent.

On the eve of the sentencing verdict of opposition leader and Al-Wefaq Secretary-General Sheikh Ali Salman, activists and tweeters demanded the authorities to stop his trial and release him under the hashtag #FreeSheikhAli, stressing on his national patriotic stances.

Bahraini High Court acquitted on Thursday opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman as well as Al-Wefaq senior officials, Sheikh Hassan Sultan, and Ali Al-Aswad of the charge of "colluding with Qatar."