Bahrain court verdict on opposition figures

Bahrain's appeals court postponed on Tuesday its verdict in the case of 13 leading opposition figures facing jail sentences over charges of plotting to overthrow the Gulf monarchy, lawyers said. The defendants who played leading roles in the month-long protests last year demanding drastic democratic reforms did not turn up in court, lawyers said, adding that the court set September 4 as a new date for its verdict. The 13 activists are being retried in a civil court after they were convicted, along with seven others who remain at large, of plotting to topple the Sunni ruling family. Another defendant was acquitted. The prosecution has dropped charges "related to the freedom of expression," for saying things that were considered illegal in the past. On trial is activist Abdulhadi Khawaja who ended in June a 110-day hunger strike. Also on trial Hasan Musheime and Abdel Jalil al-Sankis, both leaders of the Shiite Haq banned movement, as well as Sunni leftist Ibrahim Sharif, who heads the secular Waed group. In June last year, a specially formed tribunal handed down lengthy jail terms against the 21 mostly Shiite activists after convicting them of plotting to overthrow the regime. Ten months later, Bahrain's highest appeals court ordered a retrial. Bahrain came under strong criticism from international human rights organisations over last year's crackdown on the Shiite-led protests. An international panel commissioned by King Hamad to probe the government's clampdown found out that excessive force and torture had been used against protesters and detainees.