From the chief Bahrain correspondent of Angry Arab: "Today, 9 of the 20 doctors sentenced last year were acquitted of all charges
(well to be accurate three of the twenty are nurses). This leaves 11 doctors.
Two doctors did not appeal their sentences. They both received 15 year
sentences but since they both fled the country, we are left with 9 doctors.
The prosecution
dropped the two most outrageous charges - the occupation of the hospital and the
possession of arms. However to save themselves some embarrassment they decided
to give the nine doctors sentences ranging from 1 month to 5 years. I mean,
after lying for an entire year they couldn't just acquit them all could they?
The government said that five out of these nine doctors already served their
sentences during their previous imprisonment. This leaves the four
scapegoats.
Scapegoat
#1: Ali AlEkri. He is a senior orthopaedic surgeon and one of
Bahrain's best doctors. You probably know him from his profile on AlJazeera
English as the doctor who treated the wounded in Gaza. Because of his experience
in war zones, he took a leadership role when the hospital was overwhelmed with
injured patients. Many of the doctors in Bahrain have never been in a war zone
situation and where overwhelmed with the number of injuries. Many were fainting
and crying because they had never seen injuries like this in their
life.
His sentence was reduced from
15 to 5 years. He was found guilty of inciting the overthrow of the regime and
participating in a gathering of more than five persons
Scapegoat #2: Ibrahim
AlDemestani. He is a nurse and the Secretary of the Bahraini Nursing Society.
Along with the President Rola AlSaffar who was acquitted, he played a major role
in organizing the hospital's response to the treatment of the wounded. His
sentence was reduced from 15 years to 3 years. He was charged with
participating in a gathering of more than 5 persons. I am unclear if there are
any other charges he was found guilty of but I am guessing they are similar to
AlEkri.
Scapegoat #3: Ghassan
Dhaif. He is a senior consultant oral and
maxillofacial surgeon, (yep had to look that one up) and is the top doctor in
his speciality. His sentence was reduced from 15 years to 1 year. He was
found guilty of inciting hatred between sects and participating in a gathering
of more than five persons. His wife, Dr Zahra AlSammak, was acquitted of all
charges.
Scapegoat #4: Dr. Saeed
AlSamaheeji. He is a Senior Opthalmologist and was tortured
so badly that he was transferred to the ICU. He had internal bleeding and the
only two surgeons in Bahrain that were specialized in his type of injury were in
prison too. So he was flown to Jordan for treatment. His sentence was reduced
from 10 years to 1 year. He was found guilty of inciting hatred between sects
and participating in a gathering of more than five persons.
There are still more
healthcare professionals facing separate trials. I am unclear as to when they
will be tried, what they are accused of and why they were tried
separately.
There are a few things to note
here. All the women were acquitted. All those who were actively speaking to the
media after they were sentenced and speak good english were acquitted. The four
scapegoats were the ones who spoke the most to the media when the hospital was
treating the injured and when the military took over the
hospital.
So there you have it. According
to Physicians for Human Rights, a total of 96 healthcare professionals were
arrested by the regime in 2011. They regime accused them of occupying the
hospital, holding patients hostage, forcing patients to fake injuries, carrying
sacks of fake blood, refusing to treat sunni patients, storing weapons in the
hospital, planning to overthrow the government and many other ridiculous
charges. We are now left with four people accused of inciting hatred against the
regime, inciting hatred between sects and participating in a gathering of more
than 5 persons. What a joke. You can see the full list of healthcare
professionals here: http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/issues/persecution-of-health-workers/bahrain/medics-on-trial-in-bahrain.html
Now Posner was apparently
disappointed with the sentences and disappointed that the regime did not use
"alternative means" to address the cases (notice he did not condemn the
sentences and call for the dropping of all charges immediately). http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/15/world/middleeast/nine-bahrain-doctors-convicted-in-political-trial.html?_r=1&src=twrhp
Well thank you for your disappointment. The US sent a clear message to the
Bahraini regime: It will continue being its ally and selling it weapons no
matter what it does. So why the hell would the regime care about Posner being
disappointed?
What happened here is obvious.
The regime occupied the hospital, arrested the injured and then arrested the
witnesses to the injuries. After that it made up a bunch of bogus charges that
no one believed. NGOs went crazy (after all nothing looks worse than arresting
healthcare professionals) and the media kept reporting on the story. The regime
got embarrassed, realized that it probably went too far with this one. After
intense pressure, the regime tried to find a way out without looking like too
much of an idiot, so it decided to convict 9 doctors, drop the two most
outrageous charges and release all the rest. Imagine what it would have done if
the US openly condemned the regime and called on them to drop all charges
immediately. So now, a little more than a year later, the saga of the healthcare
professionals still hasn't ended but it is clear that the entire thing was one
big fabrication."
