Bahrain Feature: Inside the Appeals Court --- A Tale of "Secret Sources" and Justice Repeatedly Delayed for Younis Ashoori

A "Free Younis Ashoori" poster on a wall in Bahrain

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This morning, 61-year-old hospital administrator Younis Ashoori returns to court for the 11th time since February in a drawn-out appeal process. Since EA wrote about his case a fortnight ago --- Bahrain 1st-Hand Special: The Coupled Suffering of Younis and Amina Ashoori --- Younis has been in court twice.

Last year, Younis was arrested, abused, and sentenced before a military court. He was charged with transporting oxygen in an ambulance to the site of a protest at the Financial Harbour, for which he received a three-year sentence. The charge was based upon documents he signed under duress whilst blindfolded. He was also charged with replacing pictures of the Bahrain royal family with Shia symbols and inciting hatred against the regime. Unlike most of the other detained health professionals, and despite his age, ill-health and mistreatment, Younis was not granted bail.

EA has now been shown copies of court transcripts from Younis's appeal hearings. They raise questions about why he has remained behind bars so long and about the quality of justice meted out to victims of last year's military tribunals.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Heavy Fighting in Aleppo

2125 GMT: Syria. We're closing today's live coverage, but it has been an eventful day.

Most of the focus has been on Aleppo. Even though we've repeatedly talked about the strength of the Free Syrian Army, even we are surprised at how well they are fighting in Syria's largest city. The regime has no choice but to launch a full-out attack on the insurgents if they ever wish to free the city. As the BBC says it will soon air footage of jets bombing the city, that has already begun. Despite this, insurgents are closing in on the city, the Syrian military appears to be evacuating parts of Idlib in order to gain more forces for the fight for Aleppo, and the battle will likely rage for days.

In the end, the FSA was never capable of holding Damascus. It just may be capable of holding Aleppo. But this does not matter. The regime has ruined the economy of its two largest cities during this fighting, and the regime is bleeding territory to the FSA elsewhere.

We've lost track of the narrative in two other important areas. The violence in Daraa and Hama provinces is staggering. Despite the heaviest fighting in this civil war being elsewhere, the amount of civilians being killed by regime forces in Hama and Daraa is very high. These areas are constantly under attack, efforts to ensure that the FSA never gains a foothold in these areas. But the opposition still thrives in both cities, and in their suburbs, and in the countrysides. The strategy is not working, and one has to wonder what will happen the minute the thumb is let off of the necks of the two provinces that started this uprising nearly 17 months ago.

EA's intern, Josh Moss, and I have been compiling an interactive map of today's events. Most of the locations of the map link back to the individual updates, and vice versa. Click on the link below the map to see it in its own window:

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Bahrain 1st-Hand Special: The Coupled Suffering of Younis and Amina Ashoori

Younis AshooriOn the morning of 20 March 2011, 60-year-old Younis Ashoori went to Muharraq Maternity Hospital as usual, where he worked as an administrator. Suffering from a migraine and pain from kidney stones, he decided to go home early. Amina, his wife, recalls that he arrived around 11:30 am. Shortly afterwards, he received a call from his boss asking him to come back as there was an urgent need for his assistance.

Despite his pain, Younis, a dedicated worker with nearly 30 years of public service, consented to his boss’s request. Saying goodbye to his wife, he drove back to the hospital.

Amina waited anxiously for her husband to return home, but he never did. He still hasn’t.

Upon his return to the hospital, he had been violently arrested. He was subsequently tortured and tried before a military court, where he was convicted of transporting oxygen to the site of a protest on 14 March and given a three-year sentence.

Younis is back in court tomorrow, with many hoping Wednesday’s appeal hearing will finally bring his freedom. Foremost among them are his wife Amina and their son Hamad. With Ramadan just days away, any further adjournment will likely keep Younis behind bars until at least September. “It's very difficult for someone to be away at Ramadan. It is a very special time for a family. His mother needs to see him. We need Younis home,” Amina says.

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Bahrain Opinion: Why Younis Ashoori's Imprisonment Points to Repression Rather than Reform

Last Thursday, the US State Department's reaction to a Bahraini court's verdicts on 20 doctors and nurses --- "we are deeply disappointed" --- made headlines.

Beyond those headlines, however, that reaction appears to have had little impact on the regime. On Sunday, Younis Ashoori, a 61-year old hospital administrator, did not receive the final verdict in his trial. Instead, the hearing was postponed for a fortnight.

Ashoori, an administrator at Muharaq Maternity Hospital, has been held in prison for more than a year, serving a three-year sentence. The initial charge was "inciting hatred against the regime", but this has been dropped. His alleged crimes now are that he took oxygen cylinders to a medical tent and replaced pictures of Bahrain's leaders with Shia religious symbols.

Yesterday's postponment extends not only Ashoori's imprisonment, but also his physical suffering: he has been seriously ill with kidney stones and an enlarged prostate since he was seized by security forces last March. In his last court hearing, Ashoori stated that, following torture, he began urinating blood and was taken to a military hospital. When he told the doctor that it was his kidney causing him pain, the doctor allegedly responded by punching him in the spot. Today, he is in need of specialist treatment, but is only receiving basic painkillers and visits from a general doctor.

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Questions of Human Rights

1953 GMT: Egypt. More political fallout tonight. 4 liberal members of the Constituent Assembly have announced their resignations:

The NAC members who left the assembly are Abdul Jalil Mostafa, the coordinator of the association; Jaber Gad Nasser, a constitutional law professor at Cairo University; and Samir Morqos, a political researcher. Nasser was one of the plaintiffs in the case which resulted in the first Constituent Assembly being disbanded by an administrative court.

The NAC members released a statement saying, “The newly-declared Constituent Assembly is not significantly different from the first formation, which an administrative court ruled invalid because it was based on party representation and not national representation as a whole.”

Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood Twitter account has sent a message that "Parliament is staying," whatever that means. The Guardian is cataloging the responses, which range from the assessment that the statement shows pure delusion to strong defiance.

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