Bahrain sentences medics who treated protesters

A court in Bahrain has sentenced 20 medics accused of plotting to overthrow the government by treating protesters to up to 15 years in prison. In a separate case, the special security court sentenced a protester to death for killing a policeman. The medics had been released on bail after a hunger strike to support them. They treated people injured when a protest movement calling for more rights for the country's Shia majority in the Sunni-ruled kingdom was crushed. The Bahraini doctors and nurses were sentenced to between five and 15 years in prison on charges that include inciting the overthrow of the government and provoking sectarian hatred. Human rights activists say they were only doing their duty. A wave of mostly peaceful protests swept the country in February and March, but they were put down by force by the government, which called in troops from neighbouring Gulf states. On Wednesday, a military court in Bahrain upheld life sentences for eight Shia activists convicted over their alleged role in protests. It also upheld sentences of up to 15 years on 13 other activists.