Bahrain Mirror: Amnesty International called on the Bahraini authorities to release political activist Ebrahim Sharif, former Secretary General of the National Democratic Action Society (Wa'ad), and end his ongoing prosecution.

In a statement it issued on Wednesday (July 15, 2015), Amnesty considered "the arrest and detention of Ebrahim Sharif to be in violation of his right to freedom of expression and urged the authorities to release him immediately and unconditionally."

While Amnesty International considered Nabeel Rajab's release to be a "positive step," it called on the authorities "to end his prosecution in a separate case that is still ongoing."

"The re-arrest of Ebrahim Sharif and the continuing imprisonment and prosecution of peaceful critics and leaders of the political opposition indicates that the Bahraini government intends to continue to silence dissident voices," Amnesty further stated.

"The authorities must start by releasing all prisoners of conscience who have been imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights to show they are serious about reform," it added.

On July 13, the Public Prosecution interrogated Ebrahim Sharif and ordered his detention for 15 days pending further investigation on charges of "incitement to hatred and contempt of the regime" and "incitement to overthrow the regime by force and illegal means", under Articles 165 and 160 of the Penal Code. He denied all the charges against him.

The Arabic Issue