Manama, Asharq Al-Awsat—A Bahraini court sentenced two police officers to 10 years imprisonment yesterday for beating and torturing a citizen to death. This took place after the police had detained the Bahraini citizen under the National Safety Law during the security chaos that struck the country in 2011.

The Bahraini prosecution revealed that the sentences had been issued against two policemen who have been found guilty of beating Bahraini citizen Ali Isa Ibrahim Saqr to death.

However Bahrain’s High Criminal Court acquitted the two of similar charges regarding the torture and death of Bahraini citizen Zakariya Rashid Ali Al-Ashiri.

The court also acquitted three other policemen of covering up the crime and failing to report it to the relevant authorities.

Bahraini Prosecutor and Head of the Special Investigations Unit, Nawaf Abdullah Hamzah, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Bahrain’s public prosecution will review the merits of the acquittals.

Commenting on the ten year prison sentence issued against the two policemen, Hamza described this as a harsh punishment. He added that Bahraini law is committed to punishing any public servant who tortures or kills detainees.

The state Bahrain News Agency (BNA) revealed that “the investigation unit based its charges on the witnesses’ testimonies, the coroner’s report, and the interrogation of the accused.”