DUBAI — Bahrain’s highest court upheld prison sentences against 13 leaders of the 2011 protests on Monday, a defense lawyer said.



The sentences, originally handed down by a military court in June 2011 and upheld by a civilian court in September last year, range from five years in prison to life sentences.



"This verdict is final, there are no more appeals possible, it is the last stage of litigation," lawyer Mohammed Al-Jishi told Reuters by telephone from Manama.

Twenty uprising leaders had been sentenced but only 13 filed appeals. The remaining seven men had been tried in absentia because they were out of the country or in hiding, Al-Jishi said.



The main charges the convicted men faced were "forming a terrorist group with intent to overthrow the system of government", as well as collaboration with a foreign state.



The men deny all charges, saying they wanted only democratic reform in the Gulf state. — Reuters