A Bahraini court released on bail 20 medics being tried because they treated anti-government protesters.
A Bahraini court released on bail 20 medics being tried because they treated anti-government protesters.
The national safety court said the verdict will be issued on September 29, state news agency BNA said late Wednesday.
The national safety court is a special court which was set up under a three-month quasi-emergency law declared by king Hamad ahead of the mid-March brutal crackdown on the protesters.
It has a mixed military and civil panel. But King Hamad last month promised that all Bahrainis on trials related to protests will see their verdicts issued by a civil court.
The medics released on Wednesday included many who had gone on hunger strike.
More than one hundred detainees were on hunger strike, 17 of whom were hospitalized by the interior ministry after their health deteriorated, according to the Bahrain Commission of Inquiry -- an “independent” panel of foreign experts set up by King Hamad to investigate the crackdown.
Weeks earlier, Bahraini authorities charged 24 doctors and 23 nurses, including several women who had worked at Manama's central Salmaniya hospital, of what they called “incitement to overthrow the regime” during the anti-government protests.
In addition, they were accused of "incitement to hatred of a regime, incitement to hatred of a segment of society, dissemination of false news and malicious rumours that could harm public interest and participation in unauthorized rallies and meetings."
Scores of protesters have been martyred -- many under torture -- and numerous others have been detained and transferred to unknown locations during the regime's crackdown.
COURAGEOUS PROTESTER
Meanwhile and in a symbolic move against the regime, a young protester has defied tight security in Manama.
The young boy ran to the iconic Pearl Square carrying Bahraini flags and continued to protest even when he was arrested.
The Saudi-backed Bahraini forces finally detained the young man and took him away.
Protests against the Bahraini regime have recently flared up despite the continuing crackdown on any dissent by the regime's forces.
