Photo: X-ray of the bullet inside the chest
27 April 2013 The Bahrain Center for Human Rights expresses grave concern over the escalating culture of impunity that was on display recently in the act the authorities took to arrest and prosecute a shooting victim before he completed full medical treatment, while at the same time the shooter was not held accountable for his crime.
On 22 Feb 2013, Sayed Majed Sayed Hasan (18 years old) and another boy were shot with bullets by a person driving in a civilian car in Buri, where a pro-democracy protest was taking place. The two boys sustained injuries in the chest and they were taken immediately to the hospital. Sayed Majed underwent a surgery that stabilized his situation, but the bullet remained in his chest. He stayed in hospital until 2 March 2013. He has scheduled surgery on Sunday 28 April to remove the bullet from his chest. While in the hospital, Sayed Majed was interrogated by the police, but no action was taken against the person responsible for the shooting despite the available information that would lead to his identity. According to witnesses, the shooter was driving a black Range Rover car with a license plate containing three digits; witnesses recorded the license plate number. However, license plates with only three digits are normally assigned to “VIP” persons by the government.
At dawn on 25 Apr 2013, security forces stormed the home of Sayed Majed and arrested him without presenting an arrest warrant after searching and damaging much of the private property in the home. His family told the BCHR that Sayed Majed informed them via a short call that he was forced to stand for long hours at the criminal investigation department, and whenever he became tired and sat down, he was beaten. He was then taken to the public prosecution where he was interrogated in the absence of a lawyer and was charged with “illegal gathering, rioting, and assault of policemen”. The public prosecution issued an order for Sayed Majed to be kept in detention for 45 days pending investigation. He is currently detained at the Dry dock detention center according to a brief call he made to his family.
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights believes that the act of arresting a victim of an attempted murder while the responsible person for the crime is allowed to go free, despite having information that lead to his identity, only confirms growing culture of impunity in Bahrain which continues to leave much of the population without any protection of the law.
In addition, the Bahrain Center for Human rights expresses concern for the life and safety of Sayed Majed, who still has a bullet lodged in his chest and who needs to have access to proper medical treatment.
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights calls for the following:
- Immediately release Sayed Majed and provide him with the complete medical treatment required for his rehabilitation.
- Launch an investigation and bring the responsible party of the shooting of the two boys to justice, and hold him/her accountable for the attempted murder.
- Put an end to the culture of impunity and bring those accountable for the protection of criminals to justice including the officials at the public prosecution.