Bahrain Medics to Appeal in Civil Court
A group of Bahraini medics handed lengthy jail terms by a security court for trying to overthrow the regime will appeal their sentences in a civil court later this month, the prosecutor general has said.
"A session has been set for October 23 to look into the appeals," chief prosecutor Abdulrahman al-Sayyed said in a statement carried overnight by the official BNA news agency.
The National Safety Court, specially created after a government crackdown on anti-regime protesters in March, had on Thursday sentenced 20 doctors, nurses and paramedics to jail terms of between five to 15 years.
The prosecutor did not specify how many of the convicted medics would lodge appeals in what are set to become the first cases in a civil court for Bahrainis accused of anti-government acts.
"The judgment in these cases is not final... all the defendants can appeal the court's judgment," said Sayyed, adding some medical officials who have not yet filed an appeal can still do so.
Since the March crackdown, several groups of defendants -- doctors, activists, and opposition figures alike -- have been tried in the quasi-military court.
Of the original 20 medics convicted, 13 were sentenced to 15 years in jail for their roles in protests that swept the tiny Gulf kingdom in February and March.
Two others were sentenced to 10 years and five others were sentenced to five years in prison.
The medical staff all worked at the Salmaniya hospital in the capital Manama which was stormed by security forces in mid-March as forces drove protesters out of Pearl Square, the focal point of demonstrations.
International human rights groups, the U.N. and medical associations in the west condemned the sentences and have called on the courts to overturn the sentences.
Last month, King Hamad promised all Bahrainis in trials related to protests will see their verdicts issued by a civil court.
The special court which convicted the medics was set up under a three-month quasi-emergency law imposed ahead of the crackdown on demonstrators. It is composed of both civilian and military judges.
Source: Agence France Presse
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