“The broadcast by the BBC is replete with errors and falls horribly short of the BBC’s editorial guidelines as well as the United Kingdom’s Broadcasting Code,” according to an official statement by Ministry of Interior Media Centre.
According to Ministry Hussain Mahdi was not a victim of a police shooting, as BBC Arabic has alleged. There were multiple witnesses to his murder, which occurred during the early morning hours of 20 October on Al Malkiya beach. He was also not shot in the head as was reported by the BBC, but was in fact shot in the abdomen and thigh.
There was no police in the immediate vicinity of Al Malkiya beach at the time of the shooting. The police was initially informed about the incident by a staff member at Salmaniya Hospital who called the operations room to report that an individual with two gunshot wounds had been brought in.
Police investigations have revealed that the shooting was the result of an argument between Hussain and another man. The two had engaged in a heated discussion on the phone and thereafter agreed to meet on Al Malkiya beach. According to witnesses, Hussain was involved in a fight at the beach with five men, one of whom shot and killed him. Two suspects were subsequently arrested by police, while the other three handed themselves in. The murder weapon was also recovered.
The shooter was charged with premeditated murder and possession of an unlicensed weapon. The rest of suspects were charged being associated with the first suspect in premeditated murder, possession of an unlicensed weapon and ammunition and hiding a gun.
During Hussain’s funeral, a group of rioters left the gravesite and went to the main road where they set up barricades and threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at the police. After the funeral, the unprovoked attacks on police continued with some other mourners joining in. An innocent bystander was injured in the process. Police responded with teargas to disperse the violent crowd. The BBC statement that the police fired rubber bullets is categorically false.
The BBC has also incorrectly reported that Hussain was arrested in the past for ‘political activities’. Earlier this year, Hussain was arrested and convicted of participating in a violent attack on Sitra police station where Molotov cocktails were used against police personnel.
The Ministry of Interior requests BBC Arabic to run a full and prominent correction to the story, and to undertake not to broadcast similarly inflammatory material in the future without confirmation, as it incites the commission of crime and leads to injury and disorder.