PO BAG 1: Bahrain

16 January 2017

Bahrain executes 3 over police bombing, triggering protests

In this Friday, March 14, 2014 file photo, Bahraini anti-government protesters burn representations of the flag of Gulf countries' Peninsula Shield forces, during a protest in Malkiya, Bahrain. Bahraini authorities say they have put to death three men found guilty of a deadly attack on police, the kingdom's first executions since an Arab Spring-inspired uprising rocked the country in 2011.

Bahrain on Sunday carried out its first executions since an Arab Spring uprising rocked the country in 2011, putting to death three men found guilty of a deadly bomb attack on police.

The executions of the Shiite men drew swift condemnation from human rights groups and sparked intense protests by 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.

3 January 2016

Iranian protesters damage Saudi embassy in Tehran

In this Thursday, April 1, 2010 file photo, activists from a civil organization reenact an execution scene in front of the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, as they protest a possible beheading of a Lebanese man accused of witchcraft in Saudi Arabia. The Arabic writing on banners read:"don't kill." Saudi Arabia carried out at least 157 executions in 2015, with beheadings reaching their highest level in the country in two decades, according to several advocacy groups that monitor the death penalty worldwide.

Protesters in Iran, angered by the execution by Saudi Arabia of a prominent Shiite cleric, broke into the Saudi embassy in Tehran early Sunday, setting fires and throwing papers from the roof, Iranian media reported.

The semiofficial ISNA news agency said the country's top police official, Gen. Hossein Sajedinia, rushed to the scene and police worked to disperse the crowd outraged by the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Shiite leaders in Iran and other countries across the Middle East swiftly condemned Riyadh and warned of sectarian backlash.