A Bahraini court sentenced on Thursday a protester to death and many others, including medics, to long jail terms.

A Bahraini court sentenced on Thursday a protester to death and many others, including medics, to long jail terms.

BNA state news agency said that Ali Yusof al-Taweel was sentenced to death and Ali Mahdi to life in prison, claiming the tow have killed policeman Ahmed al-Mreyssi in the area of Sitra, south of Manama during an anti-government protest, BNA said quoting miliary general prosecutor Yusof Flaifel.

The same court sentenced 20 medics to between five and 15 years in prison for medical treatment they have given to protesters.
Thirteen medics were sentenced to 15 years in jail, two others to 10 years, and five to five years, including several women, Flaifel said.

The medics all worked at the Salmaniya Medical Complex in Manama, which was stormed by security forces after they drove protesters on March 16 out of the nearby Pearl Square -- the focal point of protests.

BNA said the medics were tried for "forcefully occupying SMC possessing unlicensed arms (AK-47s) and knives, incitement to overthrow the regime, seizing medical equipment, detaining policemen, and spreading false news."

They were also accused of "inciting hatred to the regime and insulting it, instigating hatred against another sect and obstructing the implementation of law, destroying public property and taking part in gatherings aimed at jeopardising the general security and committing crimes," BNA claimed.
"All these acts were done with a terrorist aim," the news agency added.

The Kingdom witnessed peaceful anti-government rallies since mid-February, demanding an end to the Al Khalifa's over-40-year-long rule over the Persian Gulf Island.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds more arrested in a brutal Manama-ordered and Riyadh-backed crackdown in the country, which hosts a huge American military installation for the US Navy's Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf.