Bahraini sentenced to death for murdering officer at protest

Bahrain’s National Safety Appeals Court sentenced a man to death for the murder of a policeman during anti-government demonstrations this year and handed down prison sentences to 20 medics, Bahrain News Agency said today.

Ali Youssef Abdul-Wahab was sentenced to death in connection with the killing of officer Ahmed Muraysi, the state- run agency said. A second man, Attia Ali Mahdi, received a life sentence.

Twenty medics received sentences ranging from five to 15 years for occupying Salmaniya Medical Complex during the rallies in February and March, possessing weapons and for seeking to overthrow the government, BNA said.

“The sentences are a message to the international community that the Bahraini regime is unconcerned about basic human rights,” the opposition al-Wefaq party, the largest Shiite group, said in an emailed statement.