A Bahraini court today acquitted two policemen who were charged with shooting dead a Shiite protester two years ago.
The Higher Criminal Court said that "as interior ministry employees, the two policemen fired shotguns at the victim Fadhel Matruk without intending to kill him," wrote the lawyer Mohammed Al Jishi wrote on his Twitter account. Mr Al Jishi represented the protester's family in the case.
Matruk died on February 15, 2011, from wounds sustained during a police crackdown on protesters who remained camped in central Manama for one month before authorities completely rased their camp in March of that year.
On Sunday, an appeals court confirmed a December ruling in which two other police officers were acquitted after being charged with killing protesters Ali Al Moumin and Issa Abdel Hasan during the same period.
On January 31, a Bahraini court sentenced a policeman to seven years in jail for torturing to death a protester during the then month-long protests in Manama against the country's rulers.
A number of policemen are being investigated or are on trial for torturing detainees after hundreds of Shiites were rounded up when security forces crushed the protests in mid-March 2011.
The authorities say they are implementing the recommendations of an independent commission of inquiry appointed by the king that confirmed allegations of excessive use of force by security forces during the unrest.
