Manama: A Bahraini court on Wednesday acquitted prominent Shiite opposition figure Khalil Marzouq on charges of inciting terrorism in the kingdom, a judicial source said.
Marzouq, a former MP for the main Shiite opposition movement Al Wefaq, was arrested on September 17. He has been out on bail since his trial began on October 24 but prohibited from travelling abroad.
Marzouq was in court for the verdict, along with representatives of the opposition as well as delegates from the embassies of Britain, France, Germany and the United States.
The prosecutor had accused Marzouq of using his position at Al Wefaq, which is an authorised political association, to “call for crimes that are considered terror acts under the law,” according to an initial list of charges.
The prosecutor confronted Marzouq with his public speeches in which he allegedly supported the “principles of terror elements... especially the terrorist group named the February 14 Coalition, which he openly supported,” the charge sheet said.
It said that Marzouq had raised the flag of the clandestine group at a public rally after it was handed to him by a masked man.
Marzouq was deputy speaker in the 40-member parliament of the monarchy before 18 MPs from the influential Al Wefaq walked out in February 2011 in protest over violence against demonstrators.
