<p>Bahrain’s appeals court acquitted nine medics and cut the jail terms of nine others on Thursday for their role in anti-regime protests last year, in a case widely criticised by rights groups.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Two others arrested in the crackdown, who remain at large, did not appeal.<br />The 20 doctors and nurses worked at Manama’s Salmaniya Medical complex, stormed by security forces after a crackdown on a protest encampment at the capital’s nearby Pearl Square in March 2011.<br /><br />The government said nine of the defendants “were found innocent, five will be released for time served, while four that were convicted still have their right for appeal.”<br />The 18 who had been arrested have been free on bail since September and did not appear in court on Thursday.<br /><br />Defence lawyers told AFP earlier on Thursday that those who were handed a sentence of “one year in prison or less” have already served their terms and are not expected to be re-arrested.<br /><br />But judicial sources later said that only the five handed a sentence of “less than one year” will not be jailed again.<br /><br />To be implemented, the “sentence is awaiting an arrest warrant from the prosecution for four defendants,” the same sources said.<br /><br />Among the four, are consultant orthopaedic surgeon Ali Alekri, whose initial 15-year jail term was cut to five years, and Ibrahim al-Damstani, the Bahraini Nursing Society secretary general, sentenced to three years.<br /><br />They will both have time left to serve. The other two are doctors Ghassan Daif and Saeed al-Samaheji — both of whom were sentenced to one year in prison.</p>
<p>Bahrain’s appeals court acquitted nine medics and cut the jail terms of nine others on Thursday for their role in anti-regime protests last year, in a case widely criticised by rights groups.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Two others arrested in the crackdown, who remain at large, did not appeal.<br />The 20 doctors and nurses worked at Manama’s Salmaniya Medical complex, stormed by security forces after a crackdown on a protest encampment at the capital’s nearby Pearl Square in March 2011.<br /><br />The government said nine of the defendants “were found innocent, five will be released for time served, while four that were convicted still have their right for appeal.”<br />The 18 who had been arrested have been free on bail since September and did not appear in court on Thursday.<br /><br />Defence lawyers told AFP earlier on Thursday that those who were handed a sentence of “one year in prison or less” have already served their terms and are not expected to be re-arrested.<br /><br />But judicial sources later said that only the five handed a sentence of “less than one year” will not be jailed again.<br /><br />To be implemented, the “sentence is awaiting an arrest warrant from the prosecution for four defendants,” the same sources said.<br /><br />Among the four, are consultant orthopaedic surgeon Ali Alekri, whose initial 15-year jail term was cut to five years, and Ibrahim al-Damstani, the Bahraini Nursing Society secretary general, sentenced to three years.<br /><br />They will both have time left to serve. The other two are doctors Ghassan Daif and Saeed al-Samaheji — both of whom were sentenced to one year in prison.</p>