Bahrain’s Court of Cassation on Monday upheld jail terms served by a lower court on the thirteen people for allegedly plotting to overthrow the monarchy.
Seven of the defendants are serving life terms, including Abdulhadi Khawaja who last year embarked on a lengthy hunger strike against his imprisonment.
“The mind-boggling verdicts in these cases did not mention a single recognisable criminal offence, instead pointing to speeches the defendants made, meetings they attended, and their calls for peaceful street protests in February and March 2011,” HRW deputy Middle East director Joe Stork said in a statement received on Tuesday.
“Bahrain’s Cassation Court has proven its inability to protect the most basic rights guaranteed in Bahrain’s constitution and the international treaties it has signed,” the statement said.
The cassation Court ruling ends any possibility of a judicial reversal of the convictions and sentences.
Hours after the court’s ruling on Monday, hundreds gathered in the village of Malkiya in support of the prisoners, in response to calls for demonstrations by activists on social networking websites.
The rulings were also condemned by the main opposition bloc Al Wefaq, and human rights watchdog Amnesty International while France “regretted” the verdicts.
