Bahrain Upholds Sentence for Fadhel Abbas Amid Attacks on Opposition

On 1 June 2017, activists reported that Bahrain’s Court of Cassation upheld a three-year prison sentence for Fadhel Abbas, the former Secretary-General of the leftist opposition group Al-Wahdawi Political Society (Unitary National Democratic Assemblage). Abbas’s sentence was reduced from five years to three in October 2016 after he was arrested in March 2015 for public[…]

Bahrain Dissolves Wa’ad, Last Major Opposition Society

31 May 2017 – A Bahraini court today approved the dissolution of Wa’ad (also known as the National Democratic Action Society), the country’s largest secular, leftist opposition group. Wa’ad was the last major opposition group officially operating in Bahrain following the July 2016 dissolution of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society. Americans for Democracy & Human Rights[…]

Bahraini government on verge of dissolving Wa’ad political society

On 17 April 2017, a Bahraini court held its second hearing to dissolve the National Democratic Action Society, the country’s largest secular, leftist opposition society. The government accused the society, also known as Wa’ad, of undermining state security and supporting terrorism. The justice ministry’s case against Wa’ad is representative of the government’s ongoing suppression of[…]

Bahrain: Court Postpones Hearing in Case to Dissolve Wa’ad Political Society

18 April 2017 – A Bahraini court yesterday decided to postpone to 30 April 2017 the final hearing in the government’s case to dissolve the National Democratic Action Society (Wa’ad), a secular liberal political society. Yesterday’s hearing was the second in the case against Wa’ad, and the verdict is expected in May. We, the undersigned,[…]

Bahrain: Political Opposition Leader Ebrahim Sharif Charged With “Inciting Hatred”

20 March 2017 – Political opposition leader Ebrahim Sharif was today charged with “inciting hatred against the regime” and against “factions of society” under articles 165 and 172 of Bahrain’s penal code for messages he wrote on social media. Sharif was previously imprisoned from 2011 to 2015, and then again from 2015 to 2016 on[…]