Hossein Jaberi Ansari, Spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, voiced his deepest lament over the confirmation and extension of Shia opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman's jail sentence from four to nine years by a Bahrain appeals court, saying “such measures against moderate political leaders are no solution to Bahrain’s problems, and by further complicating the issues, will ultimately benefit the extremists.”
A Bahrain appeals court on Monday extended the custodial sentence for Sheikh Ali Salman, secretary general of Al-Wefaq Islamic Society bloc in Bahrain, from four years to nine years. He was sentenced in June last year after being arrested in December 2014 on charges of calling for anti-regime demonstrations and collaborating with foreign powers. Sheikh Salman has denied the charges.
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