Bahrain Bans Protests, Police’s Murdering back to Front

Local Editor

Bahrain announced Tuesday it is banning all protest gatherings amid the spread of anti-regime movements in the strategic Gulf kingdom that hosts the US Navy's 5th Fleet.

The decision re-imposes state of emergency-style rules in the tiny kingdom, whose people's majority launched an uprising over 20 months ago, aiming to win a greater political voice.

Tuesday's announcement by the Interior Ministry did not specify what actions could be taken against fresh protests, but suggests political groups could be held responsible with possible arrests or formal closures of their offices.

Meanwhile, Bahrain's prosecutor appealed against the acquittals of a policewoman accused of torturing a journalist and two policemen tried for murdering demonstrators in last year's anti-regime protests.
"The prosecutor general has decided to file an appeal after a thorough review of the reasons that led to the acquittals and after studying the evidences against the accused in both the cases," a statement issued by the prosecutor general said.

On October 22, a Bahraini court had acquitted a policewoman who was charged with torturing female journalist Naziha Saeed, who is Manama's correspondent for France 24 and Radio Monte Carlo Doualiya, during last year's crackdown on anti-regime protests in the Gulf kingdom.
The court claimed that the testimony of the victim was "contradictory" and "does not conform to the pathologist's report."
The officer was prosecuted for hitting the journalist on May 22, 2011, after she was summoned by the police for questioning about her links with al-Manar Lebanese television.

In another case on September 27 the court acquitted two police officers accused of killing two protesters, Ali al-Moumin and Issa Abdel Hassan, during the crackdown on protests in 2011.
The court justified their acquittals on the basis of lack of evidence.


Source: News agencies, Edited by moqawama.org