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Attack footage shown in court
Feb 14, 2012 (Gulf Daily News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
DRAMATIC footage of an attack on a Bahrain University student by a mob of more than 50 anti-government protesters last March was shown in the High Criminal Court yesterday.
The evidence was screened in the trial of two men allegedly among those who attacked the student, after accusing him of being a "mercenary" because he was a "naturalised" Bahraini.
The footage showed the victim being brutally attacked by more than 30 people -- some of them armed -- on the roof of a university building, where he had run to escape.
They continued beating him after he collapsed in a pool of blood, but then hauled him to his feet and took him inside -- where he claimed he was thrown down a flight of stairs.
The footage then showed him being dragged from the building and again being attacked outside, this time by more than 50 people after more joined the mob.
It happened on March 13 at the university's Sakhir campus, which authorities say was overrun by anti-government protesters who went on a rampage -- attacking fellow students, damaging university property and even setting one of its buildings on fire as students hid inside.
The university was closed as a result of the violence, which coincided with an escalation of violence by protesters in Manama.
As well as footage of the actual attack, a video in which the victim returned to the scene and described what happened was also screened in court yesterday.
His attackers are said to have struck him repeatedly with metal rods, wooden planks and stones, as well as stamping on him with their feet before stealing his mobile phone.
The victim explained what he heard while he was being pounded by the mob.
"I heard them saying 'you naturalised Bahraini, you mercenary' as they were beating me up on the rooftop of the university," the victim says in the footage.
"I also heard them saying 'revolutionaries'."
He suffered eight per cent permanent disability in his elbow, a broken hand, nose, back and multiple wounds to his body in the vicious assault.
The same people who attacked him are then said to have carried him to a waiting ambulance and told the medics to take him to Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC).
However, he said he pleaded with them to take him to the BDF Hospital instead of SMC, which at the time was occupied by anti-government protesters.
"After they beat me up they took me to the ambulance and told the paramedics to take me to Salmaniya Medical Complex," he said in the video.
"I begged them (the paramedics) to take me to the BDF Hospital.
"After they saw I was shaking and looked like I was about to die, they agreed on taking me to the BDF Hospital."
The two students arrested in connection with the attack, aged 20 and 21, both appeared in court yesterday to plead not guilty.
Lawyer Sami Seyadi, who is representing the 21-year-old defendant, claimed his client could not be identified in the attack footage.
"My client is tall and thin," he said.
"It would be easy to spot him if he was in the video."
The Public Prosecution accepted his observation, but said both suspects had previously confessed to the crime.
A prosecutor also claimed the 20-year-old defendant could be identified among the attackers.
The confessions of both defendants are documented in case files submitted to the court.
"I heard everyone saying we caught the naturalised Bahraini," said the 21-year-old.
"Then I started hitting him with a wooden plank I held in my hand." The 20-year-old is a student at Bahrain University's Sakhir campus, while the 21-year-old is a student at its Isa Town campus. Their trial was yesterday adjourned until February 21, when the victim is due to attend the hearing.
___ (c)2012 the Gulf Daily News (Manama, Bahrain) Visit the Gulf Daily News
(Manama, Bahrain) at www.gulf-daily-news.com Distributed by MCT Information
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