DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A higher Bahrain court has denied an appeal by human rights activist Nabeel Rajab of his five-year prison sentence.

Rajab did not attend the hearing on Tuesday. He already is serving a separate two-year prison sentence.

The five-year sentence, initially handed down in February, came over his criticism of the Saudi-led war in Yemen and over alleged abuses in Bahrain's prisons. Rajab can still appeal to Bahrain's Court of Cassation, the country's highest court.

The cases against Rajab, Bahrain's most well-known rights activist, have drawn international criticism.

They also come as the tiny island kingdom off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf is in the midst of a years-long crackdown on dissent.

Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet and a British naval base.