International outcry over the sentencing of 20 medics, who treated injured protesters, in Bahrain has led to the announcement of their retrial. Front Line Defenders’ Mary Lawlor explores the stories of others imprisoned in similar circumstances
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Bahrain’s National Safety Court has handed 15 year sentences to protesters in two different cases involving University of Bahrain. In one case, the court gave 15 years in prison to 15 individuals that were participating in protests and vandalism at University of Bahrain, and they were convicted of attempted murder of military personnel during the unrest. In another case, six university students were also sentenced to 15 years in prison for allegedly being involved with the protests. A seventh student was charged with attempted murder and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
The lengthy prison sentences of two journalists have been upheld in Bahrain. Journalistic bloggers Abduljalil Alsingace and Ali Abdel Imam were sentenced in June on a series of charges related to “plotting to topple” the regime, along with 19 other people. The court upheld the life sentence for Alsingace and the 15 year sentence to Abdel Imam. Additionally in Bahrain, granting of ID passes to journalists from daily newspaper Al-Wasat was delayed, preventing the journalists from covering the government’s by-elections on Saturday. The passes would allow journalists to enter and report from polling stations.
Bahraini authorities have blocked access to the website of the Bahrain Justice and Development Movement, a London-based group consisting mainly of Bahraini exiles that denounces human rights violations in the country and advocates democratic reforms. Without elaborating, authorities accused the site of “breaking Bahrain’s laws.”