Bahrain executes 3 prisoners for first time in decade

Manama, Jan 15 (IANS) Bahrain on Sunday executed three prisoners who had been convicted of carrying out an attack in 2014 that killed three policemen, the first death penalties in the Arab country in a decade.

Sami Mushaima, 42, Ali Sankice, 21, and Abbas Samee, 27, who were condemned in 2015, were executed by a firing squad, Efe news agency reported.

The relatives of the three condemned persons were called to attend the funeral in a cemetery in Manama that was cordoned off by the police in order to avoid protests.

Authorities said on Saturday night that a policeman was injured in an attack on a checkpoint outside a Shia-majority town.

Last week, a top court rejected the final appeal in the case. On Saturday, the United Nations called on Bahrain to halt the executions.

The three were found guilty -- along with seven other inmates -- of belonging to a terror cell that participated in the March 2014 bombing of the village of Sanabis in which three policemen died, including an officer from the United Arab Emirates.