Bahrain executes 3 convicted in deadly police bombing

DUBAI / AP

Bahraini authorities on Sunday put to death three men found guilty of a deadly bomb attack on police, the kingdom’s first executions since an Arab Spring-inspired uprising rocked the country in 2011.
The executions of the men drew swift criticism from human rights groups and sparked outrage among opponents of the Sunni-ruled government, who see the charges as politically motivated. Activists allege that testimony used against the condemned men was obtained through torture.
Bahrain’s public prosecution said the death sentences were carried out by firing squad early in the day. The executions were the first in the US-allied nation since 2010 and followed a spike in protests in solidarity with the convicted men.
Abbas al-Samea, Sami Mushaima and Ali al-Singace were found guilty in 215 of killing two Bahraini policemen and an Emirati officer deployed to bolster the country’s security forces in a 2014 bomb attack. Their death sentences were upheld by a Bahraini court last Monday. Bahrain is a tiny island nation off the coast of Saudi Arabia that hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, which patrols the waters around the Arabian Peninsula and is the naval counterweight to nearby Iran.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets on Saturday in solidarity with the condemned men as rumors spread that their executions were imminent. Images shared on social media showed activists blocking roads with burning debris and hurling petrol bombs in clashes with
police.
Nicholas McGeehan, a researcher who monitors Bahrain for Human Rights Watch, called the executions inflammatory and unjust. He urged the kingdom’s allies to “publicly and unequivocally condemn these killings.”
Protests and clashes continued on Sunday despite a heavy presence of riot police deployed in predominantly Shiite areas. Witnesses said shops were shuttered in Daih, where the 2014 bombing happened. Garbage bins were seen overturned and set alight in the streets.