Shiite medics on trial in Bahrain on charges of involvement in anti-government protests said on Monday that they had been tortured into signing false confessions, family members said.
The medics told their families and lawyers after a hearing at a special court that they had been “subjected to physical and psychological torture to extract confessions,” a relative said.
They were also tortured to “force them to sign statements that contained untrue accusations,” a relative added, requesting anonymity.
The medics appeared in the court set up under emergency laws decreed by King Hamad in mid-March on the eve of an all-out crackdown on Shiites who led a month of pro-democracy protests.
A total of 24 doctors and 23 nurses working at Salmaniya hospital were in May referred to the court on an array of charges.
