Bahrain Mirror: Al-Akhbar local Bahraini newspaper, which is linked to the Prime Minister, said that the lawyers representing Al-Wefaq Society, the largest political opposition group in Bahrain, "did not present their defense (brief) before the appeal court, in the appeal against the verdict dissolving the society, on the deadlines set by the court."

The Second High Civil Appeal Court had decided to adjourn the two appeals challenging the verdicts to close Al-Wefaq headquarters, dissolve it and liquidate its funds until September 22, 2016, allowing the appellant (Al-Wefaq) to submit their defense briefs during a period of 10 days as of the day when the verdict was appealed.

The paper further claimed that the duration specified by the court ended on Thursday (September 15) after counting the Al-Adha holiday days. It added that Al-Wefaq defense panel "had insisted on getting permission to enter the society headquarters to review the society's documents and papers in order to prepare their plea," but the judge informed them that "the judicial guard assigned after the verdict was issued by the court to dissolve the society is the one responsible for granting permission for entrance. "The defense; however, didn't file any request to the judicial guard," the paper concluded.

Arabic Version