1st July 2013

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

Bahrain court acquits police of torture charges
A Bahraini court acquitted on Monday two police ofcers, including a woman, on trial for torturing six Shiite doctors during the 2011 uprising against the Sunni regime, a judicial source said. The two ofcers had been accused in March 2011 of having "used force, torture, and threats" against the doctors who had been arrested over their roles during the uprising, the source added. But the pair denied any wrongdoing. A representative of the prosecution, Nawaf Hamza, said he could appeal the court's decision. Read More The boy had been involved in one of the many demonstrations which have occurred since midFebruary 2011, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power. The protests led the Bahraini regime to launch a brutal crackdown, calling in Saudi-led Arab forces from neighbouring states. Read More Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), the international fact-nding panel set up to look into the events that occurred in Bahrain in February and March 2011. The BICI published a searing report in November 2011 and included a series of recommendations to help ensure that the deplorable incidents would not be repeated. Read More favour of the acquittal of both ofcers from the charges.

Bahrain High Criminal Court acquits two officers of torture charges

The Special Investigation Unit (SIU)'s chief, Nawaf Abdullah Hamza, has stated that the Grand Criminal Court's Third Chamber has issued its verdict today on the lawsuit in which two ofcers were accused of torturing a number of detainees before court trial(s) in various cases, adjudicating in

According to the Bahrain News Agency (BNA), the SIU's chief said that the Public Prosecution will consider this verdict in order to verify the reasoning upon which it stands, and then the Public Prosecution will decide whether to impugn the verdict by appealing this court ruling before a Court of Appeal should there exist any legal or positive justications for lodging such an appeal.http:// gulfnews.com/news/gulf/ bahrain/bahrain-to-launchthe people of Bahrain would bring great harm to the country.

Bahraini regime jails teenager for insults to king

A teenage human rights activist has been jailed for participating in an antiregime demonstration south of Manama, Bahrain and posting a story about in on his Twitter page.

Bahrain's Fake Sectarian War

Mohamed al-Buasa went to the Pearl Roundabout on February 15, 2011, the second day of Bahrains Arab Springinspired uprising. What he witnessed there was a swelling crowd of Sunnis and Shia calling in a single voice for greater political rights and freedoms. On a whim, he took the stage and gave a rousing speech decrying sectarianism and warning the royal family that its attempts to divide

Bahrain to launch formal police ombudsman work

Bahrain is set to start formally on Tuesday the work of its rst ombudsman in a breakthrough development for the country. Setting up the ombudsman was one of the recommendations put forward by the Bahrain

The speech was noteworthy because alBuasa is a religiously conservative Sunni, a former army captain, and, at the time, an employee of the court of Bahrains crown prince. He comes from a tribe that is close to the ruling family, and he spent years supporting King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifas vows to enact political reform before coming to the conclusion that they were just empty promises. Read More

Bahrain must release teacher activist

The Bahraini Cassation Courts decision to uphold the convictions against two leaders of the Teachers Association is a charade and yet another example of the heavy price government critics pay in Bahrain for their views, Amnesty International said today.

Mahdi Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb and Jalila alSalman, the former president and vicepresident of the Bahrain Teachers Association were sentenced to 10 and three years imprisonment respectively on September 2011 after they called a teachers strike. They were charged with halting the educational process, inciting hatred of the regime, attempting to overthrow the ruling system by force. Read More