Bahraini regime has sentenced prominent opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman for four years in jail.

Bahraini regime has sentenced prominent opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman for four years in jail.

AFP news agency quoted a judicial source as saying that a Bahraini court has acquitted al-Wefaq Secretary General of the charge of seeking regime change and instead convicted him of other charges, including collusion with foreign governments and instigating unrest.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Salman’s al-Wefaq party wrote on its official twitter account: “the regime is pushing toward aggravation and issued a sentence of four years for the Bahraini opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman,” Reuters news agency reported.

On his part, al-Wefaq movement official told al-Manar that the charges against Sheikh Salman are ‘void and politicized.’

 “The regime insists, through this sentence and despite international pressure, to embarrass itself before its people and their legitimate demands,” Ali al-Asswad said shortly following the court sentence.

Al-Khalifa regime arrested Sheikh Salman on December 28, shortly after he called for serious political reforms in the Persian Gulf country following his re-election as the secretary general of al-Wefaq.

The 49-year-old has strongly denied the charges against him, emphasizing that he has been seeking reforms in the tiny island kingdom through peaceful means.

In a statement released on Monday, Amnesty International called on Bahraini authorities to release the prominent Shia cleric “immediately and unconditionally.”

Amnesty also described Salman as "a prisoner of conscience detained solely for peacefully expressing his views.”