Re-trial of Karzakan Detainees

On March 2010, the Appeal Court sentenced 19 people known as the Karzakan detainees to three years’ imprisonment, after they were cleared and released by the Supreme Criminal Court on 13 October 2009. The group was accused of involvement in violence and riots which resulted in the death of policeman Majid Asgar on 9 April 2008. The new sentence shocked the families of the detainees, and they demanded it be revoked. On 2 April 2010, the residents of Karzakan village organized a demonstration, in which political activists and clergymen protested against the new ruling and demanded the release of the detainees. On 9 April 2010, hundreds of Bahraini citizens took to the streets in Bani Jamra village, demanding an end to the pre-reform period victims’ file.