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| Bahraini doctors on trial for treating the injured |
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Dozens of Bahraini doctors and nurses who treated injured pro-democracy protesters during the uprising were put on trial on Monday on allegations they participated in efforts to overthrow the Al Khalifa regime. The 47 health professionals, 23 doctors and 24 nurses, have been detained since March, when martial law was imposed to quell a wave of demonstrations for greater freedoms in the island nation, AP reported. Emergency rule was lifted on Wednesday and pro-democracy protesters again marched on Manama’s iconic Pearl Square on Friday, facing tear gas and rubber bullets from Bahraini police. On Sunday, Bahraini security forces attacked people at religious processions in villages across the country, using tear gas, rubber bullets, sound grenades and birdshot to break up the marches. The doctors and nurses were arraigned on Monday during a closed hearing in a security court authorized under emergency rule. The court has military prosecutors and military and civilian judges. The health professionals were charged with participating in efforts to topple Bahrain's Al Khalifa monarchy and taking part in political rallies. Other charges against the doctors and nurses, who mostly treated injured protesters in the state-run Salmaniya Medical Complex in the capital Manama, include harming the public by spreading false news and denying medical attention. During the uprising, medical staff in Bahrain repeatedly said they were under professional duty to treat all and strongly rejected claims by authorities that helping anti-regime protesters was akin to supporting their cause. Bahrain's military took over the Salmaniya hospital after martial law was imposed March 15, and doctors and patients said soldiers and police had conducted interrogations and detentions inside the complex. International human rights groups have criticized Bahrain's campaign against medical professionals, saying that authorities are deliberately targeting doctors and nurses who treated hundreds of injured demonstrators at the Salmaniya hospital during weeks of demonstrations against the 200-year rule of the Al Khalifa family. Hundreds of protesters, opposition leaders, human rights activists, athletes and Shia professionals have been detained during months of a brutal crackdown. Two protesters were sentenced to death. Mercenary security forces attack religious processions Bahrain’s mercenary security forces backed by Saudi troops on Sunday attacked people at religious processions in villages across the country, the country's opposition al-Wefaq movement and residents said. Police used tear gas, rubber bullets, sound grenades and birdshot to break up the marches, which were taking place in several Shia villages around Manama, the country's capital, residents and members of al-Wefaq said, Al Jazeera reported. Residents said that some gatherings were purely religious, while at others marchers shouted slogans against the ruling Al Khalifa family, including “The people want the fall of the regime”, a chant that has become the symbol of similar protests in Tunisia and Egypt which dethroned long-time rulers. In Sitra, residents said that several people were injured and that a house was set on fire. “We condemn this attack, this kind of attack will make the situation even worse,” said Sayyed Hady of al-Wefaq. “This event is so, so normal in Bahrain, we've been doing it for centuries ... the authorities said they won't attack religious events, but this is what they did.” Also, in a video released on Sunday by activists, Saudi-backed mercenary forces were seen detaining children on the eastern island of Sitra despite the Al Khalifa family's recent lifting of a nationwide martial law, Press TV reported. Young protesters were shown fleeing police cars in Sitra. Regime forces catch up with the youngsters and brutally beat down one of them and abducting a number of other children. The videos struck at the heart of the revolution staged by thousands of anti-regime protesters, who have been holding demonstrations across Bahrain since mid-February, demanding the overthrow of the Al Khalifa monarchy.
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