Bahrain on Sunday executed three Shia men despite widespread protests in the capital. The three were convicted for the killing of three police officers in a bomb attack in March 2014, the BBC reported. The Sunni-ruled kingdom has escalated a crackdown on its Shia critics over the past year, including revoking the citizenship of the country’s most prominent Shia Muslim cleric, Ayatollah Isa Qassim. Authorities in Bahrain do not permit international news agencies to cover events independently. Reprieve said the executions went ahead “despite serious concerns that their convictions were based on evidence obtained under torture.”

Source: Hindustan Times January 15, 2017 14:49 UTC