Bahrain jails 36 protesters for life on multiple charges

They have been jailed in three separate cases related to month-long democracy protests in the Gulf kingdom, a military prosecutor said.Fourteen were sentenced to life, or 25 years in prison, after being convicted of beating to death a Pakistani with a terrorist aim, as well as assembling for riots, the prosecutor Yusof Fleifel said, quoted by BNA state news agency.Another 15 were sentenced to 15 years in jail after being found guilty of attempting to murder military personnel, in addition to taking part in protests and vandalism at Bahrain University in Manama, it said.The third case involved seven university students, six of whom were jailed 15 years, while another was sentenced to 18 years, over charges including attempted murder targeting several people at the university.The students had been charged with holding people hostage in building S20 and setting it on fire with the aim of killing those in the upper floor in addition to damaging the building and stealing computers, it said.The students were collectively fined 349,300 Bahraini dinars ($926,377), it added.The three groups were sentenced by the National Safety Court, a special security court set up following a mid-March clampdown on the Shiite-led protests.King Hamad had declared a State of National Safety, a quasi-emergency law, a day before security forces drove protesters out of Manamas Pearl Square, the focal point of demonstrations, and cracked down on Shiite activists across the country.The defendants will be able to appeal their sentences at civil courts, BNA said citing Fleifel.The National Safety Court has a mixed military and civil panel. But last month the king promised that all Bahrainis in trials related to protests would see their verdicts issued by a civil court.Authorities in the kingdom ruled by the Al-Khalifa dynasty have said that 24 people were killed when the protests were put down, including four policemen. The opposition puts the death toll at 30.