MANAMA: Bahrain’s Shiite clerics criticized the Gulf kingdom’s police Tuesday for attacking religious processions just days after emergency rule was lifted.
Five clerics said in a statement that the police committed “a flagrant violation of freedom of religious practice” against Shiite pilgrims Sunday, when they attacked a procession commemorating the death of a revered saint.
Shiites were marching around the tiny island and thumping their chests in mourning.
Bahrain’s majority Shiites complained of discrimination by the nation’s Sunni rulers long before starting a wave of protests earlier this year. Protesters demanded greater political freedoms, more rights and an elected government in Bahrain.

The head of Bahrain’s Public Security, Brig. Gen. Tariq bin Mubarak bin Dayna, defended the police force’s response to Sunday’s processions. He said some pilgrims broke the law by chanting political slogans during the commemoration of Imam Hadi’s death.
“Action against these groups were undertaken utilizing legal procedures,” he told the state-run Bahrain News Agency. Several people were detained during Sunday’s unrest, he added.

Protesters again marched on Pearl Square in the capital, Manama Friday. They were met with tear gas and rubber bullets from Bahraini police as they tried to regain control of the original center of the anti-government protests.
Bahrain imposed martial law in March to quell the revolt that was inspired by uprisings against autocratic rulers around the Middle East. Hundreds of opposition supporters, political figures and Shiite professionals were arrested during the emergency rule that expired last week.

The attorneys and relatives of the doctors and nurses arrested during the protests said late Monday that the accused have been denied access to their lawyers.
The medical workers face charges ranging from incitement against the government to storing arms and seizing control of a hospital during the unrest.
Some lawyers told Reuters they had not been granted access to detained defendants before a hearing Monday in Bahrain’s military court, and argued those in custody should be released until their trial.