BAHRAIN’S former opposition leader Ebrahim Sharif was sentenced to six months in prison today for tweets critical of Sudan’s authoritarian President Omar al-Bashir who faces mass protests against his rule.

The country’s lower criminal court issued the jail term along with a 500 Bahraini dinar fine to suspend the sentence after Mr Sharif tweeted calls for an end to tyranny and freedom for the Sudanese people on December 25 last year.

Using the hashtag “Cities of Sudan rise up” he accused the Sudanese government of intensifying the situation and worsening conditions for the poor.