07-05-2024 05:52 PM Jerusalem Timing

Bahraini Policemen Charged for Torturing Detainee to Death

Bahraini Policemen Charged for Torturing Detainee to Death

A Bahrain court on Sunday jailed two policemen for seven years each after convicting them of torturing to death a detainee in the wake of last year’s brutal crackdown on protests.

Bahrain: Al-Khalifa security soldier pointing his gun at peaceful protesters (Archive)A Bahrain court on Sunday jailed two policemen for seven years each after convicting them of torturing to death a detainee in the wake of last year's brutal crackdown on protests, a local daily said.

The Gulf kingdom's high criminal court found the two national security members guilty of torturing Abdul Karim Fakhrawi to death while in detention, Al-Wasat's online edition reported.

The court had in May thrown out the case against the two defendants for lack of proof and sent it back to the prosecution for further investigation.

Bahrain: Al-Khalifa security soldiers' beating peaceful protester (Archive)According to Agence France Presse, a number of policemen are being investigated or are on trial for torturing detainees after hundreds of peaceful protesters were rounded up when Al-Khalifa security forces quelled a month-long protest in mid-March 2011.

Authorities claim they are implementing the recommendations of the independent commission of inquiry called for by the king that confirmed allegations of excessive use of force by security forces during the popular revolution.

Home to the US Fifth Fleet and strategically situated across the Gulf from Iran, Bahrain still witnesses sporadic demonstrations, mostly outside the capital Manama.

According to the International Federation for Human Rights, around 80 people have been martyred in Bahrain since the violence first broke out on February 14, 2011.