Monday, January 16, 2017

Bahrain executes three shia men convicted of killing police officers in 2014

Bahrain on Sunday has executed three Shia men who were convicted of killing three police officers in a bomb attack in March 2014, the authorities say.They were killed by a firing squad. The executions of the three men, who Bahraini officials say were part of the listed terrorist group Saraya al-Ashtar, are the first since a 2011 uprising, led by the Shia majority, calling for greater political rights. A week earlier a high court upheld their convictions.
Human rights officials say there are serious concerns that evidence may have been obtained under torture.The UN's special rapporteur on extra-judicial killings, Agnes Callamard, condemned the executions in a tweet saying: "Torture, unfair trial + flimsy evidence: these are extrajudicial killings."
"This is a black day in Bahrain's history. It is the most heinous crime committed by the government of Bahrain and a shame upon its rulers... This act is a security threat to Bahrain and the entire region," Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy told Reuters news agency.
Protests erupted in several Shia villages over the news of the executions. When demonstrators blocked roads with burning tyres, police responded with tear gas. Al Jazeera repirted that a city hall was set ablaze after a night of protests, but the fircould be contained. 
A police officer was wounded when his patrol came under fire on Saturday in the Shia village of Bani Jamra, to the west of the capital Manama, the interior ministry said.

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