Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): The Swedish member of the European Parliament, Lars Adaktusson, said that Bahrain "is on the wrong track" adding that "a court in Bahrain sentenced the leader of the country's largest opposition movement, Sheikh Ali Salman, to four years in prison. The judgment reflects the escalating pressure by the government to try to silence dissident voices in the island. The leader of the Shiite opposition party Al-Wefaq was arrested in December after a speech calling for political reforms."

"The development in the small gulf state of Bahrain has been on the wrong path since the uprising in the wake of the Arab Spring in 2011. Then the Shiite majority population took to the streets demanding political rights and democratic reforms," Adaktusson further stated, noting that "Sunnis and Shia marched on the streets together, and some political prisoners are Sunni, however most of the opposition are Shia."

The Swedish MP also went on to say that "The country's Sunni leaders responded with brutal force. Saudi troops were called in and thousands of dissidents were imprisoned, killed and forced into exile. Several critics of the regime have been deprived of their citizenship and made stateless (approximately 150, including ex-MPs, religious clerics, journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders and political activists)."

"The individual examples of human lives affected by this development are many. One such example is the Swedish citizen (Sheikh) Mohammed Habib Al-Muqdad who in 2011 was sentenced to 46 years in prison for participating in the uprising. As a well-known dissident Al-Muqdad had often been critical of the regime. Now he is silenced as a prisoner of conscience under difficult circumstances," Adaktusson stressed.

"The most famous human rights activist Nabeel Rajab has also been put behind bars. His (crime) was a post on Twitter, where he commented on the fact that members of the Bahraini security forces have joined the Islamic State," he said.

The Swedish MP also explained how "The Western world has a difficult balancing act in its relations with the Gulf States. Sweden's actions in the case of Saudi Arabia is a good example of this. But it must be possible to criticize human rights violations wherever these take place without damaging the relationships with strategic trading partners and allies in the fight against terrorism. It is not wrong to be ideological. We should always stand up for human rights. But a country's foreign policy must be consistent and professional."

The Swedish member of the European Parliament then concluded his statement by saying: "The Swedish government must intensify its efforts to have Mohammed Habib Al-Muqdad released. Sweden and Europe must raise their voices for the vulnerable minorities in the Middle East. Whether they happen to be Christian, Yazidi, Jews, Kurds, Sunni or as in this case Shia Muslims. Stability and human rights are not opposites."

The Arabic Issue