Bahraini Police Attack Protesters, Medics Trials Adjourned
Bahraini police fired tear gas and birdshot during overnight clashes with protesters demanding the release of jailed activists, opposition leaders said.
The attacks against protesters in villages around the capital Manama started when hundreds of demonstrators flooded the streets chanting anti-regime slogans and calling on the authorities to release the prisoners, including human rights leader Nabeel Rajab.
"Security forces in Bahrain dealt violently with peaceful protests that took place in a number of villages and areas in Bahrain. Besides shooting unreasonable amounts of tear gas in residential areas, security forces shot birdshot pellets on protestors causing many injuries," a statement from the opposition "al-Wefaq" party said.
Alaa Shehabi, head of the Bahrain Watch website, said between 20-30 people were injured in the clashes.
Shehabi said the attacks were part of an ongoing crackdown on the opposition.
Senior opposition leaders including Rajab, head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, and prominent blogger Zainab al-Khawaja have been arrested in recent weeks.
"We have had a month-long crackdown now - it started at the beginning of April ahead of the Formula One and it has continued with house raids, escalating use of birdshot and injuries," Shehabi said.
She further highlighted that "all the prominent leaders like Rajab and al-Khawaja are being arrested one by one. They are after certain people, they are after certain protest organizers - I have been threatened and (deputy head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights) Said Yousif has been followed."
Demonstrators at Thursday's protests held up pictures of Rajab, who was arrested last Saturday for tweets deemed insulting to the government.
Amnesty International has urged Bahrain to free Rajab immediately.
"Rajab is a prisoner of conscience and he must be immediately and unconditionally released," said Philip Luther, head of the London-based watchdog's Middle East and North Africa program.
"This is the Bahraini authorities' latest attempt to clamp down on dissenting voices in the country," he said in a statement earlier this week.
Meanwhile, a Bahraini defense lawyer announced Friday that the retrial of 20 medical professionals has been adjourned for a month.
The doctors and nurses had been sentenced to prison terms of between five and 15 years by a now-disbanded security tribunal, which was set up by al-Khalifa monarchy as part of crackdowns against protests that began 15 months ago.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org
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