Bahrain executions spark violent protests

DUBAI — Bahrain on Sunday executed three men found guilty of killing three policemen, sparking violent protests and stoking tensions in the kingdom.

The three Shiite men faced the firing squad, six days after a court upheld their death sentences over a bomb attack in March 2014, the prosecutor's office said in a statement carried by BNA state news agency.

The announcement of the executions triggered protests in Shiite villages, where demonstrators blocked roads with burning tyres and police retaliated by firing tear gas, according to posts on social media.

Pictures shared online by activists also showed relatives of those executed weeping over their deaths.

The executions came a day after demonstrations broke out across Shiite villages following rumours that the authorities were going to put them to death.

They are the first in six years in the Gulf kingdom, according to London-based human rights group, Reprieve, which had warned on Saturday against the move.

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, head of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said: "This is a black day in Bahrain's history."

 Scores of men and women had taken to the streets on Saturday after the families of the three were summoned to meet them in prison, a measure that usually precedes the implementation of death sentences, witnesses said.

Later on Saturday, a policeman was wounded when his patrol came under fire in the Shiite village of Bani Jamra, said the interior ministry.

"No, no to execution," the protesters chanted.

The high court on Monday upheld the death sentences against the trio convicted in a bomb attack in March 2014, which killed three policemen, including the officer from the United Arab Emirates.

The executed men have been named by activists as Sami Mushaima, 42, Ali Al Singace, 21, and Abbas Al Samea, 27.

Seven other defendants received life terms.

Since the 2011 uprising, Bahrain has arrested and put on trial hundreds of Shiites, despite repeated appeals by international rights groups.

Cleric Ali Salman, the head of Al Wefaq largest opposition group, was arrested in December 2014 and subsequently sentenced to nine years in prison after being convicted of inciting hatred.

Salman's arrest sparked protests across Bahrain.

Al Wefaq itself was dissolved in July.