Detained Bahraini protester dies, ministry says – Bahrain Freedom Movement

26/01/2012 – 12:33 p | Hits: 211

A Bahraini protester detained following clashes with police in a Shia village has died in hospital, police said on Thursday. Police in the Gulf kingdom’s Central Governorate announced that the unnamed person was detained on Tuesday “over acts of vandalism in the area of Sitra,” in a statement posted by the Interior Ministry on the Twitter social network.

The term “vandalism” is generally used by the authorities in Bahrain to refer to protests by Shia youths, which sometimes involve throwing petrol bombs and setting rubbish containers on fire.

“He died in hospital and the public prosecution has been notified,” the statement said.

The Interior Ministry said on Wednesday that 41 police officers were injured in “orchestrated attacks on police forces” on Tuesday amid rising tensions almost a year after the eruption of democracy protests that were crushed in mid-March.

The opposition said several protesters were wounded on Wednesday in clashes with police in at least four Shia villages.

The crackdown on Shia-led protests last March led to the deaths of 35 people, including five security personnel and five detainees who were tortured to death, a commission appointed by the king to investigate the unrest said.

Bahrain’s Shia community, although a majority in the kingdom ruled by the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty, has complained of marginalization.

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