Bahrain court jails six Shiite protesters for 10 years

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A Bahraini court jailed six Shiite Muslim protesters for 10 years on Tuesday after allegedly convicting them of murder of police, a judicial source said.Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have staged numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power. The protests have been met with a heavy-handed crack-down.The six were allegedly convicted of trying to kill police officers by throwing Molotov cocktails, of burning a police vehicle and taking part in an unauthorised protest, the judicial source said.Two policemen were wounded in March 2012 as they savagely dispersed a demonstration in a village near the capital Manama, the source said, adding that four of the six men convicted were minors at the time of the incident.Since September 29, 128 Shiites have been handed sentences of up to life in prison for taking part in protests, as authorities have tried to crack down on the protest movement.At least 115 people have been killed since the protests began, according to the Ahlul Bayt News Agency.Bahrain cuts jail term for policeman who killed innocent Shiite protester On Monday, the Court of Appeals in Bahrain has reduced to 3 years a 7 year sentence given to a policeman who is accused of killing a protester named Ali Mushaima. The decision comes in the Judiciary’s and Public Prosecution Office’s series of decisions to acquit and reduce sentences of those involved in killing protesters.The regime tends to reduce sentences given to killers after it had marketed enough the original higher sentences to the international community. On the other hand, political sentences handed to dissidents reach as long as 60 years, and are merely based on confessions obtained under torture. On top of this, all measures taken by the Judiciary lack transparency.In the current year only, the court have acquitted more than 11 involved in killings, while the Special Unit in the Public Prosecution Office has filed more than 300 complaints of torture -according to official information-, however, no results have been reached.Al Wefaq stressed that trying some security personnel in crimes of systematic violations and abuses does not mean that drop the necessity to prosecute officials involved in crimes of murder and human rights violations that have resulted in the death of more than 130 Bahrainis over the past two and half years.Reducing the sentences of those involved in killings and violations is systematic impunity to assure criminals and torturers that they are above the law as was revealed in a videoed conversation.The courts had previously acquitted officers involved in torturing medics and another female officer accused of torturing a journalist. While the sum of sentences handed to citizens in politically motivated trials added up to 1300 years distributed on 150 persons.Around 13 prisoners have been sentenced to life along with fines of hundreds of thousand Dinars, all in cases related to the political crisis in Bahrain where the majority of the people are demanding democratic transition.According to the report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, chaired by international law expert Mr. Cherif Bassiouni, trials in Bahrain are used to attack the opposition. While the UN HCHR Ms. Navi Pillay had said these trials are used for “political prosecution”. While Amnesty International had said the courts’ sentences are a “travesty of justice”. Also, Human Rights Watch had issued a report following the conviction of 21 prominent political activists and 20 others who work in the medical field. The report was titled; “No justice in Bahrain; unfair trials in military and civilian courts”./129