Hawzah News Agency (Manama, Bahrain) -Protesters could be seen on Wednesday, December 14, holding pictures of senior Shia cleric Shaykh Isa Qasim and Shaykh Ali Salman, in various locations across the country.

The demonstrators were calling for the immediate release of Salman and all other political prisoners.

Shaykh Salman was initially sentenced to four years in prison. Bahrain’s Supreme Court of Appeal increased his jail term to nine years on May 30.

The cleric was arrested in December 2014 on charges of attempting to overthrow the Manama regime and collaborating with foreign powers.

Shaykh Salman has denied the charges, saying he has been seeking reforms in the country through peaceful means.

Meanwhile, a sit-in protest being held outside Sayikh Qasim’s home in Diraz has entered its 179th day.

On June 20, Bahraini authorities stripped the 79-year-old cleric of his citizenship, less than a week after suspending the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, the country’s main opposition bloc, and dissolving the Islamic Enlightenment Institution, founded by Qasim, and the opposition al-Risala Islamic Association.

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