Dubai: A prominent secular opposition leader in Bahrain pleaded not guilty on Monday at the opening of his new trial for “promoting political change through forceful means”, judicial sources in Manama said.
Addressing the Higher Criminal Court, Ebrahim Sharif said the charges against him were based on “assumptions” and not facts.
Sharif, who headed the secular Waed party, was freed on June 19 after spending four years in jail over his involvement in 2011 anti-government protests. But he was re-arrested three weeks later for “violating the law”.
The activist is accused of promoting “violent disorder” in a “direct attempt to undermine stability in the kingdom and overthrow the regime”, in addition to other charges.
The next hearing will take place on October 12.
Sharif played a prominent role in the month-long protests in 2011 and was later among a group of 20 activists tried for plotting to overthrow the rulers of Bahrain.
Opposition sources say the activist was taken back to prison after he criticised the government during a ceremony for a victim of the unrest.
Also on Monday, the main Shiite opposition bloc, Al Wefaq, slammed accusations by authorities that one of its members, former lawmaker Shaikh Eisa Hassan, is “financing terrorism”.
Bahraini authorities said in a statement on the official BNA news agency that the ex-MP was arrested on August 18 after returning from Iran — which the kingdom accuses of fuelling unrest on its soil.
Hassan was being held “on charges related to financing terrorism among terrorist fugitives and others who are associated in terrorist acts”, the interior ministry said. His name was linked to several “terrorist cases”, including a blast that killed two policemen last month, it said, adding that he will be referred to public prosecution.
Al Wefaq insisted that “Eisa is innocent of these accusations,” saying the bloc’s “leaders and members adhere to its non-violent methodology.”
The opposition in Bahrain is pressing for a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister.