Several doctors and nurses who treated injured anti-government protesters during months of unrest in Bahrain have been charged with acts against the state and will be tried in a military court, the justice minister has said.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Khaled bin Ali Al Khalifa, the justice minister, read the charges against the medical staff, which included “promoting efforts to bring down the government” and “harming the public by spreading false news.”
Al Khalifa also said that another 23 doctors and 24 nurses faced charges included participating in attempts to topple the Gulf island’s Sunni monarchy and taking part in illegal rallies.
The announcement is the latest in the Sunni rulers’ pursuit of Shia opposition supporters after weeks of street marches demanding greater freedoms, equal rights and an elected government in Bahrain.
Separately, two former parliament members of the country’s main Shia party Al Wefaq were arrested on Monday, according to a senior party leader, Abdul-Jalil Khalil.
‘Medical professionals targeted’
International rights groups say Bahrain is targeting medical professionals who treated injured demonstrators at the Salmaniya medical centre, which was later overrun by the military with doctors and patients saying soldiers and police had conducted interrogations and detentions inside the complex.
Physicians for Human Rights said in a report last mo…
