DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain's highest court has upheld life sentences for a prominent Shiite cleric who led a now-shuttered opposition party and two of his colleagues.

The ruling on Monday targeted Sheikh Ali Salman, who headed the Al-Wefaq political party and was a central figure in Bahrain's 2011 Arab Spring protests.

A court in June previously acquitted Salman and his two colleagues of spying charges. Bahrain's Supreme Court of Appeals later overturned that verdict and found them guilty in November.

Both state-aligned media and activists reported the ruling by the Court of Cassation.

Bahrain is an island nation off the coast of Saudi Arabia that's home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. The kingdom has been in the midst of a yearslong crackdown on all dissent and opposition.