Bahrain court drops two death verdicts

A civilian court in Bahrain has overturned death sentences for two protesters and life imprisonments for three others arrested during anti-regime demonstrations. In April 2011, the National Safety Court of First Instance sentenced four protesters, including Ali Abdullah Hasan al-Singace and Abdul Aziz Abdullah Ibrahim Hussein to death and three others to life in jail. An appeal court commuted the sentences of two of the protesters to life in prison, but it upheld the death sentence of Singace and Hussein. “The verdicts were annulled and sent to the lower court of appeal,” said lawyer Mohsen al-Alawi, part of the team defending Singace, on Monday. The protesters had been accused of killing two policemen. The National Safety Court of First Instance was a military tribunal set up in April under a state of “national safety” declared by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Bahraini government has been under pressure from a five-member international panel comprising human rights and legal experts who accused Bahrain of rights abuses during the crackdown on months of public protests in the Persian Gulf state. International rights groups have criticized Bahrain for trying protesters, opposition leaders and activists in the military court.