Human Rights Watch said all coerced testimony in Bahrain in the trial of Hassan Mushaima, leader of the political opposition group Haq, and 34 others should be withdrawn and that those not charged with a genuine criminal offence should be freed. Use of televised, coerced testimony and other serious flaws in the criminal trial of the opposition leader and others were reported. On December 28, 2008, state-controlled television showed a programme in which young opposition activists who had been held incommunicado for weeks “confessed” to committing violence at a Haq rally ahead of Bahrain national holidays on December 16 and 17. The broadcast accused Mushaima of inciting violence as part of a plot to overthrow the government during these holidays. The televised testimony is a key element in the prosecution’s case involving various charges against Mushaima and 34 others. Large portions of the February 23 court proceedings were omitted from the official trial record, said a defence lawyer, Jalila al-Sayed, including detailed torture allegations by many of the 19 defendants then present.
COERCED TESTIMONY
Human Rights Watch said all coerced testimony in Bahrain in the trial of Hassan Mushaima, leader of the political opposition group Haq, and 34 others should be withdrawn and that those not charged with a genuine criminal offence should be freed.
