Co-Chair Jim McGovern Calls on Bahrain to Release Sheikh Ali Salman

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman James P. McGovern (D-MA), Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, called on the government of Bahrain to release opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman.

The Sheikh, the Secretary General of the Al-Wefaq political society in Bahrain, was detained in December 2014 after delivering a series of peaceful speeches calling for political reform. In June 2015, he was sentenced to four years in prison on charges of insulting the Bahraini Interior Ministry and inciting others to break the law, and is jailed in the infamous Jaw Prison. The Sheikh has appealed his conviction, and a verdict is expected this coming Monday.

Sheikh Ali Salman is recognized as a prisoner of conscience with the Defending Freedoms Project, an initiative of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and Amnesty International USA.

The full press release is available here [PDF].