A Bahraini court on Wednesday extended the detention of Sheikh Ali Salman, the secretary-general of the main opposition bloc al-Wefaq, and set the next hearing for May 20.
Sheikh Salman was detained by Bahraini forces on December 28, 2014, two days after he was re-elected as the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society party’s secretary-general.
The opposition leader is charged with seeking to overthrow the Al Khalifa regime and collaborating with foreign powers. The opposition leader strongly denies the allegations.
Anti-government protesters have been holding peaceful demonstrations across Bahrain since mid-February 2011, calling for an end to the al-Khalifa dynasty.
Violence against the defenseless people escalated after a Saudi-led conglomerate of police, security and military forces from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member states - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar - were dispatched to the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom on March 2011, to help Manama crack down on peaceful protestors.
So far, hundreds of protesters have been killed, hundreds more have gone missing and thousands of others have been injured.
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