The Bahrain Court of Cassation [establishing law] on Monday overturned the sentence of Shiite opposition leader Ali Salman [BBC backgrounder], who had been convicted for inciting hatred and encouraging violent regime change and sentenced to multiple years imprisonment [BNA report]. The court ordered a retrial [AFP report] of Salman, whose original sentence [JURIST report] of four years was increased to nine by the court of appeal in May. The Court of Cassation had previously refused to reconsider Salman’s sentence.

The kingdom of Bahrain is considered an ally of the US but has faced growing international concerns about its human rights practices. In August a group of independent UN human rights experts expressed concern over Bahrain’s persecution of the Shia population. The experts said, “[t]he intensified wave of arrests, detentions, summons, interrogations and criminal charges brought against numerous Shia religious clerics and singers, human rights defenders and peaceful dissidents is having a chilling effect on fundamental human rights” [JURIST report]. In July the Bahrain High Civil Court ordered al-Wefaq, the main Shiite opposition group in the country, to be dissolved [JURIST report]. In June a UN human rights adviser called on Bahrain to ensure human rights are respected [JURIST report] following protests triggered by the decision to strip Sheikh Issa Qassem, a prominent Shia religious leader, of his nationality.