Bahrain’s Public Prosecutor said his office continued to analyze the factual and physical evidences already obtained in the death of 14-year old Sitra resident Ali Jawad Ahmad.
Wael Buallay, Head Prosecutor of the Kingdom of Bahrain, told the media as he addressed a conference that interrogations were continuing in the matter.
Updates will be provided as the investigation develops and more facts become available.
The prosecutor, however, expressed inability to divulge details of evidence gathered from interrogating the Ahmad’s parents and friends. He told the Bahrain News Agency that divulging such information was detrimental to the investigations.
Fielding a question on updates from another journalist the prosecutor said the procedures were all being adhered to in the investigation. He added that all police patrols in Sitra were asked to identify any objects or evidence related to the murder. They had also been asked to maintain constant contact with all the authorities to ensure timely reporting of all evidence.
Elaborating on the run-up to the case, the prosecutor said that on August 31, the Public Prosecutor’s office received a report from the Central Governorate Police Station that unidentified persons brought a dead body to the Sitra Medical Centre.
They alleged that the person had died from an assault by the police force on the morning of that same day. Immediately the Public Prosecution began investigating the incident under the direct supervision of Dr Ali bin Fadhl Al-Boainain, the Chief Prosecutor.
A member of the Public Prosecution, who reached the Medical Center in Sitra examined the body said Buallay. This examination showed there were multiple injuries, including abrasions and bruises under the deceased’s chin, face, right hand, pelvis, knees and behind the neck. Accordingly, the Public Prosecution called the coroner to carry out another medical examination on the deceased to identify the reason for and the date of such injuries.
A second medical officer examined the body externally (and in the presence of the Public Prosecution). The examination report concluded that the death resulted from an injury behind the neck and decided that the body should undergo a full autopsy. At that point, the Public Prosecution issued the decision to conduct an autopsy to ascertain the cause of death. The coroner concluded in his initial report that the death occurred as a result of an injury behind the neck. The report said that the fracture between the first and second vertebrae of the spine and the associated bleeding around the spinal cord occurred from a severe impact with a solid object.
”While it is technically difficult to definitively identify the instrument that caused the death, it has been noted that such an injury could not happen as a result of a tear-gas canister ejection,” said the prosecution head. The conclusion was reached on the basis of a comparison made against a forensic test of an ejected tear-gas canister, which was made available by the Public Prosecution’s Physical Evidence Department. He added that two additional types of tear-gas canisters provided by the Ministry of the Interior were also being examined.
As part of investigation, said Buallay, it was necessary to trace the facts regarding the circumstances of the initial report, including the reason given for the death and all other associated circumstances. “Investigations have been ongoing since the time the initial report was received. Examinations have been made by the public prosecutor’s office, witness statements examined and specimens and physical evidences examined by additional forensic specialists and criminal evidence experts,” said the prosecutor. The reports from specialists at the Public Prosecution’s Physical Evidence Department ruled out evidence of exposure to tear gas on the deceased’s blood sample, body fluids and clothing.
The public prosecutor’s office meanwhile has intensified the interrogations related to the case to ascertain the facts and circumstances surrounding this death, as well as identify the persons who brought the body to the Sitra Medical Centre. He said that such persons’ failure to give their identities and report the incident directly to authorities raises considerable doubt about the circumstances surrounding this death.
Identifying the three was expected to bring to light vital leads on the death, said Buallay.
The dais was also shared by Muhanna Al Shaiji, Head of Prosecution from the Southern Governorate, in whose jurisdiction the death occurred.