The Bahraini regime courts have issued a two year sentence against opposition figure Majeed Milad, for expressing his political opinion in a small public gathering.

Milad was president of the Capital Municipal Council for two consecutive electoral rounds prior to the eruption of the nationwide protests that called for political reform and respect of equal citizenship and human rights.

The ruling against Milad signals, once again, an absolute absence of freedom of opinion and expression in Bahrain, as arrest and reprisal await those who dare to share views critic of the government. Suppression of freedom of speech has reached the furthest level and these measures are not acceptable nor reasonable.

The regime in Bahrain has closed the doors of development, dialogue and negotiation and kept its prison doors open to receive more political dissidents, signaling no desire for settlement.

Al Wefaq stresses that the ongoing escalation of suppression is a costly decision and will bring nothing but failure to the nation. The majority of Bahrainis will continue to raise their legitimate demands for democracy until they are fulfilled.

Al Wefaq is demanding the immediate and unconditional  release of Milad and the thousands of political prisoners in Bahrain. This is an apparent evidence that the situation is not normal as some try to promote through toneless slogans.

Four years after the report of Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), more dissidents are being locked up on the way of suppression. Al Wefaq considers Majeed Milad a prisoner of conscience. The international community is called up on to take a clear stance against the suppression of freedoms in Bahrain.