FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2012 file photo, Fareeda Ghulam, the wife of Bahrain opposition politician Ebrahim Sharif, carries a poster with her husband's image as she arrives for an anti-government rally outside the offices of the United Nations in Manama, Bahrain. Activists said Wednesday, March 13, 2019, that Sharif now faces up to six months in prison for a tweet about Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Poster reads, "Freedom for Ebrahim Sharif. We are the voices of freedom, peace and reform." (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, File)
March 13, 2019 - 7:19 AM
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A prominent opposition politician in Bahrain faces up to six months in prison for a tweet about Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
Bahraini prosecutors have long targeted Ebrahim Sharif over his outspokenness in an island kingdom in the grips of a yearslong crackdown on dissent.
Both Amnesty International and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy reported the court ruling Wednesday.
Sharif must pay bail of over $1,300 to remain free pending a possible appeal.
His tweet in December 2018 called for al-Bashir to leave office. The Sudanese president has faced months of protest over his rule.
Authorities in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet and a British naval base, did not respond to a request for comment.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019