Bahrain said on Wednesday that 20 medical staff sentenced to jail terms in a military court would be retried in a civilian court after the verdicts drew international criticism.
Late last month, a military court sentenced 20 doctors and medical staff to jail for up to 15 years on theft and other charges, in what critics said was a reprisal for treating mostly Shiite protesters injured during pro-democracy unrest in the minority Sunni-ruled Gulf Arab kingdom.
“The public prosecutor announced today that a new trial has been ordered for a group of 20 medical staff ... found guilty in initial trials in the National Safety Court,” the Information Affairs Authority said in a statement.
The UN human rights office said at the time the initial trials failed to meet international standards of transparency and due process, and the World Medical Association condemned the sentences as “totally unacceptable.”
In Washington, a US Department of State spokesman said the US was “deeply disturbed” by the jailing of the doctors in Bahrain, a close ally of Washington. The British government also voiced concern over the sentences.
Mohsen al-Alawi, a defense lawyer at the military trial, said prosecutors have the right in Bahrain to order a retrial after a ruling from a first-instance court if they think there have been mistakes.
“It means they want to lighten the sentences or overturn some of them,” Alawi said.
Bahrain’s Sunni Muslim rulers quashed the protests in March with the help of troops from fellow Sunni neighbors Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. At least 30 people were killed, hundreds wounded and more than 1,000 detained — mostly Shiites — in the crackdown.
“The Department of Public Prosecution seeks to establish the truth and to enforce the law, while protecting the rights of the accused. By virtue of the retrials, the accused will have the benefit of full re-evaluation of evidence and full opportunity to present their defenses,” the statement said.
“No doctors or other medical personnel may be punished by reason of the fulfillment of their humanitarian duties or their political views,” attorney general Ali al-Boainain said.
Bahrain jailed 13 Shiites for five years and another six for a year for trying to burn down a police station, state media said on Wednesday, bringing to almost 80 the number of opposition figures sentenced this week.
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