Sharif has been detained for months over comments criticising Bahrain and other Arab states' ties with Israel

On Thursday, the Bahraini Lower Criminal Court sentenced Sharif to six months’ imprisonment and fined him 200 Bahraini dinars ($530), citing an interview he gave in Beirut to LuaLuaTV in which he condemned Arab states for failing to support the Palestinians and for their growing ties with Israel.

“In the interview, he made statements containing false and offensive information about Arab countries, accusing them of collusion and conspiracy, and calling on their people to resist and rise up against their governments,” the public prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Instagram.

Bahrain was among a number of Arab states that normalised relations with Israel in 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords.