Bahraini protester dies in prison

The Bahraini government says a teenage protester has died in police custody, despite activists’ reports that the boy was crushed to death by a police patrol.
Bahraini interior ministry issued a statement posted online on Thursday that police arrested the man on Tuesday “over acts of vandalism” in the country’s central area of Sitra.

“He died in hospital and the public prosecution has been notified,” the statement said.
But Matar Matar, a senior official from the opposition group al-Wefaq, said Muhammad Ali Ya’qhoub was chased by police vehicles and that his body “was stuck between two (police) cars that were following him.”
“Instead of receiving the necessary medical treatment, the police took him to the yard opposite Sitra police station where he was tortured,” the former pointed out.
Ya’qhoub’s death came after the body of a protester, identified as Saeed Fakher, was found one day after his arrest, while horrific marks on his body indicated that he was the last of the protesters to die under torture in prison.
Bahrain has been hit by a wave of anti-regime protests since mid-February, which was immediately met with a brutal crackdown by the ruling Al Khalifa family.
Dozens of demonstrators have been killed and scores wounded in the popular uprising in the Persian Gulf nation.