Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 

Bahrain Court Orders New Trial for Protest Leaders

 

Bahrain appeals court orders retrial of 21 jailed activists

Press TV, Monday April 30, 2012, 9:22AM

Bahrain’s Court of Cassation has ordered the retrial of 21 jailed political activists, including Abdulhadi al-Khawaja who has been on hunger strike for more than two months.

The official Bahrain News Agency (BNA) said on Monday that the court is ordering that the trial “take place again and that testimony from prosecution and defense witnesses be heard once more as if it is a new trial.”

However, defense lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi said the judge stated that the activists would not be released.

None of the 21 convicted Bahraini activists appeared in court on Monday.

Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who holds dual Danish and Bahraini nationality, was given a life sentence in a military court in June 2011 over accusations of inciting protests against the Manama regime.

The retrial of the 21 Bahraini men will reportedly take place in a civil court.

International human rights groups have called on Bahraini authorities to release the activists without condition.

Meanwhile, Bahraini protesters held a demonstration against the verdict in front of the courthouse in the capital, Manama, on Monday.

Khadija al-Mousawi, the wife of Khawaja, said after the verdict was issued that the legal process of her husband’s case was “ridiculous.”

“They (Bahraini authorities) are playing for time, and should have transferred his case to a civilian court at the first hearing not the third.”

On Sunday, Mousawi was allowed to visit her husband for the first time in two weeks. She said Khawaja “was drugged and force-fed” at the military hospital on April 23.

“After he woke up he found two IV (intravenous) injections in his arms and a feeding-tube down his nose. It was done against his will.”

However, a spokesperson for the Bahrain Defense Forces Hospital rejected the issue, claiming the jailed activist “has not been force-fed or treated against his will.”

HSN/HJL

 

Bahrain Court Orders New Trial for Protest Leaders

France 24, April 30, 2012, By News Wires (text)

REUTERS -

A Bahraini court has ordered a retrial for 21 men convicted in a military court of leading last year’s pro-democracy uprising, but said it would they would remain in jail until new verdicts are reached, the official news agency said on Monday.

Among those facing a new trial in a civilian court is Abdulhadi al-Khawaja who has been on a hunger strike for over two months and was at risk of dying.

“The court is (ordering) that the trial take place again and that testimony from prosecution and defence witnesses be heard once more as if it is a new trial,” BNA said.

“Cassation Court rulings do not allow for releasing defendants as long as they were imprisoned when presented to the first trial,” it added.

Defence lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi, who attended Monday’s session, said the judge stated that the men would not be released. International rights groups have said they should be freed without condition.

The convicted men – none of whom appeared in court – are believed to be among hundreds that an international rights commission said in November were tortured during a period of martial law.

They were sentenced by a military court last year for organising the protests led by majority Shi’ites that threatened the Sunni monarchy’s grip on power.

The main charge was “forming a terrorist group with intent to overturn the system of government”, but also included collaborating with a foreign state – an apparent reference to Shi’ite power Iran.

Eight of the group were given life sentences, including Khawaja and opposition leaders Hassan Mushaimaa and Abdulwahhab Hussein.

They had expressed support for turning the Gulf Arab state, which is host to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, into a republic.

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