1st October 2012

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

Bahrain court upholds jail terms on protesting medics
Bahrain's highest court on Monday upheld jail terms issued against nine medics convicted for their role in last year's pro-democracy uprising, state news agency BNA reported, a decision that could further fuel unrest in the Gulf Arab state. The controversial case has drawn international criticism of the U.S.-allied Gulf Arab kingdom, which has been in turmoil since the protests led by its Shi'ite Muslim majority were crushed by the Sunni rulers. Bahrain, home base for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, accuses regional Shi'ite power Iran of encouraging the unrest and has promised a tough response to violent protests as talks with the opposition have stalled. Read More prison. This comes amid rising tension and popular protests, in which dozens of people have been arrested and a 17-year-old boy was killed. The longest sentence, ve years, went to Ali al-Ekry, formerly the senior medic at Salmaniya Medical Complex, the largest hospital in Bahrain. He was convicted of ''possession and concealment'' of weapons and ''illegal assembly.'' Dr. Read More Dr Ali al-Ekri was sentenced to ve years and the eight others were given between a month and three years. Nine other medics had their convictions overturned in June and two are hiding. The case against the medics has drawn international condemnation and has been seen as a test of the government's commitment to reform. Read More

Bahrain court upholds sentences for 9 medical staff linked to protests inspired by Arab Spring
Bahrains highest court has upheld prison sentences for nine medical personnel convicted for their role in antigovernment protests last year in the Gulf kingdom. The governments Information Affairs Authority says

Mondays decision by the Court of Cassation closes the cases, which have brought widespread criticism from rights groups and medical societies. The medics sentences span from ve years to one month on charges that include taking part in illegal gatherings after the uprising began in February 2011. Two other medics are fugitives and were sentenced to 15 years in absentia. Read More

Bahrain: top court upholds convictions against doctors

Bahrain's highest court on Monday upheld prison terms against nine medics convicted for ''subversive'' actions during the prodemocracy uprising in February-March 2011. The sentences, which were upheld on appeal, range from one month to ve years in

Bahrain court rejects final medics appeal

Bahrain's highest court on Monday rejected the nal appeal by nine medics against their convictions linked to antiregime Shiite-led protests last year and upheld their jail terms, the government said. "The court of cassation... has rejected the appeals and upheld the previous court's

convictions and sentences of the nine accused," said a government statement citing deputy attorney general Abdulrahman al-Sayyed. The medics were part of a group of 20 doctors and nurses who worked at Salmaniya Medical Complex in the Bahraini capital Manama during the February 2011 uprising against the kingdom's ruling Sunni dynasty. Read More One physician was sentenced to ve years, another to three years and seven sentences ranged from one month to one year, the report said. The physicians were accused of taking over the Salmaniya Medical Complex during the anti-government demonstrations in February and March of 2011. Prosecutors charged the doctors with detaining and imprisoning people, and with turning the hospital into a place for illegal gatherings and strikes. Read More

Bahrain court rejects medics' appeal

Bahrain's highest court has upheld the prison sentences given to nine medics for their alleged role in last year's prodemocracy protests, ofcials say. The Court of Cassation rejected an appeal against their convictions for weapons possession, incitement and taking part in illegal demonstrations.

Bahrani court upholds 9 doctors' sentences

The convictions and prison terms of nine physicians stemming from a 2011 uprising in Bahrain were upheld Monday, a prosecutor said. Deputy Attorney General Abdulrahman al-Sayyed said the Court of Cassation upheld the earlier rulings in the case, the Bahrain News Agency reported.

serve between a month and a year, Bahrains state news agency said on Monday.

Bahrain upholds jail terms for medics

Bahrains highest court on Monday upheld jail terms for nine medical staff detained for their role in last years political unrest, a move that could stoke further tensions in the Gulf state that has struggled to stamp out opposition protests. Of those accused, one faces ve years, another three years and the remaining will

The US ally detained dozens of medical staff during last years crackdown on prodemocracy protests led by the majority Shia community against the minority Sunniled government. Rights groups and western allies of Bahrain have criticised the government for targeting medical personnel during its crackdown on the pro-democracy protests. Read More the harshest jail term: He was sentenced to ve years in prison for "possession and concealment" of weapons and "illegal assembly". The other medics were arrested one-by-one in subsequent raids, according to sources in Bahrain. The doctors are part ofa group of 20 arrested last year and convicted by a military court; those convictions were upheld by a civilian tribunal in June, despitewidespread criticism of the trial from international human rights groups. Read More the former senior medic at Bahrains top hospital, who was given ve years in prison. The eight others received sentences ranging from one month to three years. The prosecution of the medics and their torture while in custody has been widely criticized. Theyve been free on bail for one year but could soon be remanded to prison. Read More

Bahrain court upholds verdicts of 9 medics accused of aiding protesters

Bahraini authorities began rounding up nine medics Tuesday, a day after an appeals court this week upheld their convictions for their role in anti-government protests last year. Prosecutors said the medics at the Salmaniya Medical Center in the capital Manama

"transformed the hospital to a place of illegal gatherings and strikes, in violation of laws" during the protests. But human rights groups have defended the medics, saying they were just treating injured demonstrators and are victims of the government crackdown. On Monday, an appeals court sided with an earlier court ruling that the medics serve prison time, ranging from one month to ve years. Read More Cassation rejected all of the defendants appeals and upheld the verdicts, BNA said. The nine medics were among the twenty individuals tried by a Bahraini military tribunal in September 2011. The tribunal charged the doctors with felonies for their role in the February protests, which included treating antigovernment activists wounded by security forces and reporting those injuries to foreign media. Some of the medics also participated in the protests. Read More in illegal demonstrations. The medics worked at Salmaniya Medical Center in Bahrain's capital, Manama, which treated many who were injured in the government's crackdown on protests starting in February 2011. Some of the medics spoke out against violence by security forces and joined protests after ambulances were targeted. Read More

Bahrain medics jailed after losing appeal

Police in Bahrain have arrested ve medics in a series of dawn raids on Tuesday morning, just one day after the country's highest court dismissed their appeals in a case international human rights groups have rejected as a farce. The rst doctor, Ali al-Ekry, was arrested at his home at around 5:30am local time (02:30 GMT), according to his family. Al-Ekry is facing

Bahraini court confirms jail terms for medics who aided protesters
Bahrain's top court conrmed the jail sentences of nine doctors for their role in last years pro-democracy protests, state news agency BNA reported. The medics will be imprisoned for up to ve years. On Monday, Attorney General Abdul-Rahman al-Sayed said the countrys Court of

Bahrain Upholds Sentences of Jailed Medics

Bahrains highest court has upheld the sentences of nine medics convicted last year for treating demonstrators during anti-government protests. The longest sentence went to

Bahraini court rejects 9 medics final appeal

Bahrain's highest court, the Court of Cassation, has rejected a nal appeal by nine medics, upholding prison sentences for their alleged role in the 2011 prodemocracy uprising. The medics were convicted of weapons possession, incitement, and participating

Bahrain's Top Court Upholds Sentencing Of Protest Medics

Bahrain's top court has upheld the prison sentences given to nine medics by a lower court earlier this year for their alleged involvement in last year's anti-government protests in the Gulf Kingdom, local media reported on Monday. The Court of Cassation made the ruling after rejecting appeals led by the convicts

against their sentencing by the Court of Appeals in June on charges of publicly inciting hatred as well as contempt and taking part in illegal gatherings. In its June ruling, the appeals court had commuted lengthy prison terms given to the medics by a military court in October 2011. The appeals court reduced the jail term of one doctor to ve years, while another was given a three-year sentence and seven medics were awarded jail terms ranging one month to an year. The court also acquitted nine others. Read More turmoil since the protests led by its Shia Muslim majority were crushed by the Sunni rulers. Bahrain, home base for the US navys fth eet, accuses regional Shia power Iran of encouraging the unrest and has promised a tough response to violent protests as talks with the opposition have stalled. BNA quoted attorney general AbdulRahman al-Sayed as saying Bahrains court of cassation rejected all appeals presented by the defendants. Read More

Bahrain: Medics who aided pro-democracy protesters face jail time

Nine Bahraini medics were sentenced to jail on Monday for their part in pro-democracy protests that took place last year, Bahrains state news agency reported. Reuters quoted Attorney General Abdul-Rahman alSayed saying Bahrain's Court of Cassation had denied defendants appeals.

"We did not get a fair trial," Dr. Al-Ekry, a surgeon who was charged with "inciting hatred and calling for the overthrow of Bahrain's rulers,"told Reuters. The 9 medics are, according to the Agence France Presse, part of a group of 20 doctors and nurses who were arrested by government forces at the Salmaniya medical complex, located in the state's capital city of Manama. Read More

Irish-trained medic's jail term for role in pro-democracy uprising upheld

Bahrains highest court has upheld jail terms issued against nine medics including Irish-trained orthopaedic surgeon Ali alEkry convicted for their role in last years prodemocracy uprising, state news agency BNA reported,. The controversial case has drawn international criticism of the US-allied Gulf Arab kingdom, which has been in

Bahrain top court upholds sentences against medics

Bahrains Cassation Court on Monday upheld the sentences handed down by the Court of Appeals against medical staff. Medics took their case to the cassation court after the appeals court in June acquitted nine of the 20 doctors and medics and handed terms between one month and ve years for the others.

The medics, who were arrested in March and April 2011, were originally convicted in September 2011 by a special court and handed sentences that ranged between ve and 15 years. The appeals court reduced the sentences of Ali El Ekri from 15 years to ve years and Ebrahim Al Demistani from 15 to three years after it dropped some charges and kept those of possessing and hiding weapons for a terrorist purpose and of illegal gatherings. Read More conrmed that its Chief Executive Professor Cathal Kelly met Bahrain's Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa yesterday. RCSI has invested around 54million in its Bahrain campus. Speaking on RTs Six-One News, UCD Professor Eoin O'Brien accused the college of not doing enough to support the doctors. Read More

Op-Ed: Bahrain court upholds conviction of medics

Nine medics who were arrested last year during prodemocracy protests have lost their nal appeal and now face time in jail. The nine are part of a group of 20 convicted by a military court in 2011, a conviction upheld by a civilian tribunal in June. Dr. Ali al-Ekry, formerly the senior doctor at Sallmaniya Medical Complex in Bahrain, was given the longest

sentence. ve years. He was of medics after convicted of "possession uprising and concealment" of weapons and also "illegal Eight other medics also had assembly". their sentences upheld today. In speaking to Al Jazeera about the decision al-Ekry noted that it is still unclear if the doctors will be sent to prison immediately. The medics' trial has been roundly criticized internationally and the government may be reluctant to implement the verdict. Read More

Bahrain upholds jailing

Dr Ali Al Ekri told RT News that he had no regrets about doing his job and speaking out against the violation of medical neutrality by Bahrain's security forces. Meanwhile, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland has

Op-Ed: Bahrain court upholds conviction of medics

Nine medics who were arrested last year during prodemocracy protests have lost their nal appeal and now face time in jail. The nine are part of a group of 20 convicted by a military court in 2011, a conviction upheld by a civilian tribunal in June. Dr. Ali al-Ekry, formerly the senior doctor at Sallmaniya Medical Complex in Bahrain,

was given the longest sentence. ve years. He was convicted of "possession and concealment" of weapons and also "illegal assembly". In speaking to Al Jazeera about the decision al-Ekry noted that it is still unclear if the doctors will be sent to prison immediately. The medics' trial has been roundly criticized internationally and the government may be reluctant to implement the verdict. Read More and have their passports taken away, making it difcult for them to leave abusive employers in the construction and domestic servant industries. Migrant workers, predominantly South Asian in origin, make up 77 percent of the workforce in Bahrain, Human Rights Watch said, and are routinely discriminated against in Bahraini society. Read More

Bahrain court upholds jail sentences for medics

The Bahrain Court of Cassation on Monday upheld jail sentences [BNA report] issued to nine medics convicted for their involvement in Bahrain's prodemocracy uprising in February and March of 2011, the Bahrain News Agency (BNA) [ofcial website] reported. According to BNA, the medics were working at Salmaniya Medical Complex

[ofcial website], and, during the time of the uprising, "took over the complex, detained and imprisoned kidnapped persons, and transformed the hospital to a place of illegal gathering and strikes, in violation of laws." According to Physicians for Human Rights[PHR report], however, at least 95 health workers were arrested in Bahrain only after some medics treated those hurt by security forces and spoke out against the crackdown against protesters, which included ring upon ambulances. Read More

HRW: Migrant workers abused in Bahrain

Nearly a half-million migrant workers in Bahrain are being exploited despite government reforms meant to protect them, a human rights group said. Human Rights Watch said the workers routinely have their wages conscated in the form of recruitment fees

Reforms failing Bahrain expat workers, says HRW

Hundreds of thousands of mostly South Asian migrant workers in Bahrain still face exploitation and abuse despite government reforms intended to protect them, Human Rights Watch said in a report issued on Monday.

governments efforts to provide redress and strengthen worker protections. It said Bahraini authorities need to implement labour safeguards and redress mechanisms already in place and prosecute abusive employers. The government should extend the 2012 private sector labour law to domestic workers, who are excluded from key protections, it added. Read More

A tale of two prisoners

Abdulhadi al-Khawaja continues to ght his sentence in Bahrain with Danish support, while Thami Najim argues that he is being tortured in Morocco with no help from the Danes Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, the Danish-Bahraini human rights activist who has been imprisoned in Bahrain since June 2011, is continuing his legal ght.

The 123-page report documents the many forms of abuse and exploitation His daughter, Maryam alsuffered by migrant workers Khawaja, told Berlingske Nyhedsbureau that her father in Bahrain and details the will appeal against his life sentence, which was upheld by a Bahraini court last month. Ive spoken with his lawyer, who told me that my father and 12 others have decided to appeal, Maryam alKhawaja said. Read More