Ali Alekri, a surgeon sentenced to a 15-year prison term, said he had been convicted only because he had treated injured protesters and because, like most of those involved in the uprising, he is a Shiite Muslim.
“The international community did nothing,” said Alekri, speaking by telephone from Bahrain, where he has been released on bail. “We expect pressure from the Americans, and we do not know why they did not do that. Possibly there is a conflict of interest.”
Alekri said that he had been beaten, that his family had been threatened and that he had been forced to sign a confession while in prison — charges echoed by others.
Bahrain is a key Middle Eastern ally for the United States, and government opponents say that status has led Washington to look the other way amid widespread allegations of torture and illegal detentions. The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet is anchored in Bahrain.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement that the United States was “deeply disturbed” by the sentencing of 20 medical professionals and urged the Bahraini government to commit to transparent judicial proceedings. But officials have stopped short of directly condemning Bahrain’s authorities.
Bahraini officials announced Thursday that the National Safety Court would be discontinued, although similar assurances were made earlier this year without effect. While it is officially a combined civil and military court, doctors said the trials were heavily dominated by the military.
“We respect the views of important ally countries,” government spokesman Abdulaziz al-Khalifa said. He said appeals for all cases would be heard in civilian courts, but insisted that the trials under emergency law were necessary. “Let’s not forget what happened in Bahrain was nothing short of total anarchy that jeopardized the national security of the country,” he said.
In February, thousands of demonstrators massed in daily demonstrations in Manama’s iconic Pearl Square, protesting against corruption, political repression and widely perceived discrimination against the Shiite majority of the population. Security forces, swelled by a Saudi-led force sent from Persian Gulf countries, largely quelled the demonstrations in a crackdown in which about 30 people were killed.
President Obama had strong words on Bahrain when he spoke about the Arab uprisings in May, condemning “mass arrests and brute force.” The statement gave hope to hundreds of prisoners and their families, said Bassim Dhaif, another surgeon who treated protesters and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
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