Bahrain Releases Shiite Medics on Bail

A special Bahraini court has released on bail 20 Shiite medics being tried for their role in a month-long pro-democracy protest, including many who had gone on hunger strike, state news agency BNA said.

The national safety court, set up under a three-month quasi-emergency law declared by king Hamad ahead of the mid-March crackdown on the protest led by the Shiite majority, said the verdict will be issued on September 29, BNA reported late Wednesday.

More than one hundred detainees are on hunger strike, 17 of whom were hospitalized by the interior ministry after their health deteriorated, according to the Bahrain Commission of Inquiry -- an independent panel of foreign experts set up by King Hamad to investigate the crackdown.

Bahraini authorities had charged 24 doctors and 23 nurses -- including several women, who had worked at Manama's central Salmaniya hospital, of incitement to overthrow the regime, during the Shiite-led protests in the Gulf kingdom that is ruled by the Sunni al-Khalifa dynasty.

In addition, they were accused of "incitement to hatred of a regime, incitement to hatred of a segment of society, dissemination of false news and malicious rumors that could harm public interest and participation in unauthorized rallies and meetings."

They were rounded up in the wake of the heavy-handed security clampdown which forcefully drove protesters out of Manama's central Pearl Square that became the focal point of anti-regime protests for a month, before being razed.

Many claim to have been tortured in custody.

The national safety court has a mixed military and civil panel. But King Hamad last month promised that all Bahrainis on trials related to protests will see their verdicts issued by a civil court.

Bahraini authorities said in May that 405 detainees have been referred to courts, while 312 were released.

Authorities said 24 people were killed in the unrest, including four policemen. The opposition meanwhile put the toll at 30.