DUBAI: Bahrain issued arrest warrants Wednesday for 20 people in an investigation into homemade bombs that wounded policemen combating pro-democracy unrest in the Gulf Arab state.
 
“The criminal investigations chief announced a list with photos of 20 individuals wanted for terrorist explosions,” an Interior Ministry statement said. “The public prosecution has permitted publishing the images to allow ... speedy arrest(s).”
 
It said the 20 were suspected of preparing and detonating homemade explosive devices that targeted policemen and injured both security personnel and civilians.
 
The names of the men, aged from 18 to 38, were obtained from questioning of detainees and other evidence. The interior minister called on citizens to help in the arrest of the men by calling a phone number with information.
 
Bahrain has been in turmoil since protesters mainly from the Shiite Muslim majority rose up for democratic reforms in early 2011. Over a year later, protests continue and recently intensified, with daily clashes between police firing tear gas to stop unlicensed marches and youths who throw petrol bombs.
 
Thirty-five people had died when a period of martial law ended last June but the total has risen to 81, the opposition Al-Wefaq party says. The government rejects the figure, saying many died from previous medical conditions. Some died in custody.
 
Police say 15 policemen had been wounded by three homemade bombs since early April. The government said this month it would step up efforts to crackdown on what it calls rioting.
 
Also Wednesday, Prominent Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab told a court that a charge that he tweeted insults against the government were “vindictive,” as dozens of lawyers turned up to defend him.
 
“The charge against me is vindictive and is due to my rights activism,” Rajab told a judge at Manama’s Minor Criminal Court, insisting the decision to arrest and try him was political, according to witnesses ... I only practiced my right to free expression. I did not commit a crime. The decision to arrest me and put me on trial was a political decision.”
 
More than 50 lawyers, both men and women, gathered at the court to defend Rajab, a protest leader. The judge adjourned the trial to Sunday, and ordered Rajab to stay behind bars.
 
Rajab, who heads the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, was detained on May 5 for “insulting a statutory body via Twitter.” He also faces a trial for taking part in a Manama demonstration three months ago.
 
The activist has insisted on demonstrating inside Manama, unlike the main Shiite opposition which now stages its protests in Shiite villages, after last year’s clampdown on protesters who occupied the capital’s Pearl Square for a month.
 
Human Rights Watch Tuesday urged Bahraini authorities to drop charges against Rajab. “The charges against Nabeel Rajab are nothing more than attempts to silence one of the Bahraini government’s most prominent critics,” said deputy Middle East director Joe Stork.