Maliki slams Bahrain after execution of 3 Shias over police murder
Nouri al-Maliki. File photo.
Maliki labelled the execution, which was carried out early Sunday “a heinous crime and an authoritarian act”, adding that Iraqis “are demanding Bahrain to abandon its murder and displacement methods”.
“Bahraini authorities today executed three young opponents advocating democracy and peacefully demanding the legitimate rights of the perseverant Bahraini people,” said Maliki, a senior leader of Iraq’s biggest Shia political alliance. He accused the kingdom of disregard of calls by international human rights organizations.
The Bahraini Court of Cassation upheld the death sentence last Monday, and a firing squad enforced the ruling yesterday. The trio had been found guilty of killing three security officers, including an Emirati national, in March 2014. The Emirati was part of Saudi-led troops that intervened on the royal family’s side during the 2011 unrest.
Bahrain had cracked down on pro-democracy movements by its Shia majority which reached their peak coincidentally with Arab Spring uprisings in 2011.
Several rights groups inside and outside the kingdom had warned against the execution, suggesting that the trials were not fair.