Executions Spark Outrage, Protests in Bahrain (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Execution of two Shiite activists by the Bahraini regime on Friday sparked protests across the country in which another person was killed by the regime’s forces.
Mohammed al-Muqaddah was killed as a result of inhaling poisonous gases that were shot by the regime's military forces to suppress the huge crowd of protesters in Al-Balad Al-Qadim, according to Arab language Al-Alam news TV.
In a separate incident, a video has surfaced in social media showing staffers at the Bahraini regime’s embassy in London who reportedly attempted to throw an activist off the diplomatic building’s roof as he was protesting the regime’s recent execution of three pro-democracy campaigners.
The activist, Musa Akrawi, had scaled the walls of the embassy on Saturday to protest Manama’s execution of the campaigners.
He recorded a video of himself after reaching the building’s roof, where he chanted slogans against the Bahraini regime.
Addressing Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Akrawi said, “Call your friend King Hamad (of Bahrain) to stop the killing.”
Reports said that embassy staffers beat Akrawi, verbally abused him, and tried to throw him off the rooftop.
Another video showed members of the Metropolitan Police deployed to the area. A police officer is seen telling the camera, “He’s not being mistreated. Not by us,” referring to Akrawi.
Other accounts showed that the police had to break down the facility’s door in order to be able to intervene.
The case of the two activists executed — Ahmad al-Malali, 24, and Ali Hakim al-Arab, 25 — caught special international attention. The duo had been handed down the conviction along with another 56 men last year on “terrorism crimes.”
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the trial had been “marred by torture allegations and due process violations”.
Since February 2011, Bahraini people have been regularly holding peaceful protest rallies, demanding that the Al Khalifa family relinquish power and that a just and representative system be established.
They have also been complaining about widespread discrimination against the country’s Shiite majority.
