Bahrain URGENT: Civilian ‘retrial’ of medics set for 23 October

Civilian ‘retrial’ of medics set for 23 October
Amnesty International – Bahrain Date: 7 October 2011

URGENT ACTION

civilian ‘retrial’ of medics set for 23 october

The appeal for t wenty health professionals sentenced by a military court in Bahrain on 29 September to between five and 15 years has been set for 23 October . It will take place before a civilian court .

On 5 October Bahrain’s Public Prosecutor announced that he had appealed against last week’s verdict on 20 health professionals, in which Bahrain’s National Safety Court of First Instance, a military court, announced prison sentences ranging from five to 15 years. There will be an appeal before the High Criminal Court of Appeal, a civilian court, on 23 October, which will be considered as a “retrial“.

At the military trial, the military prosecution is reported to have failed to provide any substantive evidence that the accused used or advocated violence during the popular protests in February and March. Amnesty International believes that the real reason the health professionals were charged may be because some of them had denounced the government crackdown on protesters in interviews to international media.

In order for the “retrial“ to be a fair trial, certain conditions must be met: the court must start a fresh investigation into the charges levelled against defendants and must re-evaluate all the evidence; the court must dismiss all previous statements given by defendants which were said to have been coerced through torture or other ill-treatment. Finally, it must hear all defendants and allow lawyers to bring in witnesses.

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