UN team prepares investigation into Bahrain Human Rights Abuse, Judge postpones trail amid demands for examinations for torture

Bahrain doctors deny stealing medicines or stockpiling arms

Accused doctors plead not guilty to charges relating to period of unrest in February as Bahrain continues controversial trial

Bahrain has defied international criticism by continuing the military trial of dozens of medical personnel accused of trying to topple the government. Twenty doctors pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges ranging from stealing medicines to stockpiling weapons during the unprecedented unrest that erupted in the small Gulf island state in February, between the uprisings that overthrew the presidents of Tunisia and then Egypt.

A second part of the hearing, where the defence could have cross-examined prosecution witnesses, was deferred until next week over legal challenges to the court’s jurisdiction and requests for independent medical examinations.

The defendants looked healthier and better dressed than during a previous court appearance, but several of them wept as they told the judge they had been tortured and forced to sign false confessions, a relative told the Guardian. …more