Bahrain orders retrial for hunger striker, others

The decision, which shifts the cases to Bahrain's highest appeals court, was seen as a victory for supporters of rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and other opposition figures sentenced last year under martial law-style rules imposed by Bahrain's rulers.

But there appeared no immediate possibility for the release of the most high-profile members of the group, which includes some of the main figures in protests by Bahrain's majority Shiites seeking to break the near monopoly on power held by the Western-backed Sunni dynasty.

One of those convicted, Alhur al-Sumaikh, had his two-year sentence reduced to six months by the court Monday and was released because of time served, family members said.

At least 50 people have been killed in unrest since February 2011 in the strategic kingdom, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Al-Khawaja's nearly three-month hunger strike has become the latest rallying point for the demonstrations.

The official Bahrain News Agency described the appeals process for al-Khawaja as practically the same as a new trial.

"The court reconsiders the proceedings from the beginning and listens to the witnesses and the prosecution and defense arguments," it said.

Defense attorney Hassan Radhi said the appeals court will decide whether to grant bail while the review is under way. No date has been set to begin the appeal proceedings, he said.

Human Rights Watch called on Bahraini authorities to free al-Khawaja and 13 other jailed leaders of last year's anti-government protests immediately.

"The military court's original verdict was absolutely mind-boggling - it did not mention a single actual criminal offense beyond acts relating to their basic human rights," Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and his co-defendants should not have to spend even one more day in prison for so-called crimes of speech and peaceful assembly."