Bahrain opposition leader accused of ‘spying’ for Qatar

DUBAI: Bahraini Shiite opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman will face trial later this month for “spying” for Qatar, the state prosecution said yesterday. Salman will be tried alongside two of his colleagues, Hassan Sultan and Ali Mehdi, from November 27 after they were charged earlier this month of espionage. “The prosecution has referred the case in which Ali Salman, Hassan Sultan and Ali Mahdi are accused of spying for the state of Qatar to the High Criminal Court,” the state prosecution said in a tweet. Salman has been behind bars since 2014 serving a nineyear sentence for allegedly inciting hatred.

On November 1 the state prosecution charged him with “spying on behalf of a foreign country ... with the aim of carrying out subversive acts against Bahrain and harming its national interests”. Salman was also charged with “revealing defense secrets to a foreign country and disseminating information that would harm Bahrain’s status and reputation”. The investigation into purported links between Salman and Qatar was first launched in August, after a quartet of Arab countries-Bahrain included-accused their gas-rich neighbor of supporting terrorism and close relations with Shiite Iran. State-run Bahrain Television aired a report which claimed that neighboring Qatar was behind anti-government protests that have shaken the tiny kingdom for the past six years.