Bahraini medical staff accused of trying to overthrow the government of the Gulf state earlier this year, and who had hoped charges against them might now be dropped, faced new accusations in a court hearing.
Twenty staff from the Salmaniya Medical Complex in Manama had thought their ordeal might be ending on Monday after the release of last week's report detailing human rights abuses by Bahrain's security forces during the Pearl revolution in February.
The report by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) found allegations that the medics "assisted the demonstrators by supplying them with weapons" to be unfounded.
But prosecutors produced guns, swords, knives and chains and claimed this was proof against the doctors, nurses, and paramedics. These weapons had not been presented previously – and led to an incredulous response in court. "It was really hilarious," one of them, Dr Nada Dhaif, [see photo] told BBC Radio 5. "The government has missed the chance that anyone will take this seriously." » | Staff and agencies | Monday, November 28, 2011
