Bahrain: A Bloody National Day, a Funeral and More Suppression · Global Voices
Mona Kareem

This post is part of our special coverage Bahrain Protests 2011.
22 year old protester Ali Al-Gassab who was ran over by a car this Thursday. Image by @ALWEFAQ on Twitter.
The Bahraini regime celebrated National Day, which marks the coronation anniversary of the current King's father, yesterday (December 16). On the same day, a funeral procession was due to take place in Abu Saiba village, along the Budaiya Highway, for protester Ali Ahmed Radhi Al-Gassab, who was run over during the #OccupyBudaiyaSt protests a day earlier.
In response, the Interior Ministry denied responsibility for the protester’s death and said he was injured in a traffic accident that involved a civilian vehicle and that the driver is in custody. Opposition movement, Al Wefaq Society tweeted that Ali was ran over by a civilian car according to his friend's statement.
Blogger Zainab Khawaja as she was getting arrested this Thursday
Thursday has also marked the arrest of blogger Zainab Al-Khawaja, who was brutally arrested, and is now in detention for seven days under investigation. This videos shows how policewomen dragged her on the ground after punching her in the face:
On Friday morning, the “February 14 youth coalition” announced through Twitter:
@ONLINEBAHRAIN: #OccuppyBudaiyaSt will continue today, protests expected across #Bahrain, @COALITION14 announces protest meeting points in all villages
Bahraini Twitter user Eman Alabed (@Eman_Alabed) posted a GRAPHIC picture of Ali Al-Gassab, who was ran over on Thursday:
While protesters were getting ready for Ali's funeral, the government refused to give his family his body:
@ONLINEBAHRAIN: Regime and [Ministry of Interior] MOI playing games by delaying release of martyr body to commence burial procession, fear of “spoiling” “national day”?
Protesters who showed up for the funeral did not let this hold them back and decided to head to the cemetery anyway:
Bahraini Twitter user Mohammed Ashoor (@MohmdAshoor), who has many times covered protests in his country, kept updating tweeps with news from the march:
@MohmdAshoor: Thousands are being exposed to tear gas right now a bit away from the cemetery!
@MohmdAshoor: This time they didn't even let the actual funeral start!
Photojournalist Mazen Mahdi (@MazenMahdi) has also covered many protests with his updates and pictures, including the protests this Friday:
@MazenMahdi: #AbuSaiba have been stormed most taking shelter in homes .. Hundreds were on the street
Protesters getting tear-gassed inside the cemetery
Here's a video, uploaded on YouTube by user BAHCALLUN, showing tear gas inside the cemetery:
As the police were attacking the mourning procession, the King was delivering a speech on TV to mark the National Day, in which he praised the role of security forces. The official Bahrain News Agency tweeted quotes from his speech:
@bna_en: We also praise the role of the national security forces in maintaining the safety and integrity of the country against all threats and risks.
Tweeps commented in disgust at the King's speech, particularly his praise of the security forces, which were attacking Bahraini villagers as he spoke:
@LuluAvenue: Hamad giving prizes to police live now on #Bahrain TV while his forces attacking villages, that's how they apply BICI recommendations.
Security forces throwing rocks on mourners near the cemetery and the martyr's grave
Regime forces on rooftops firing at unarmed civilians in Shakhura
This GRAPHIC video shows three  bloodied protestors, who were allegedly beaten up by police:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5nhDbGTe-Q&feature=youtu.be&skipcontrinter=1
In this video, a YouTube user says security forces were beating 25 protesters on the roof a house in Shakura, also on the Budaiya Highway. The user also states that this incident led to 18 injuries, including knife injuries to the head or stabs in the protester's thighs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dIagZaG3O4&feature=youtu.be
British blogger Marc Owen Jones sourced seven different videos of this particular roof attack incident. In his post, Jones wrote:
While the abhorrence of yesterday’s violence was itself shocking (a group of 13 riot officers on the roof of an apartment beating what appear to be about 20 youths), the fact the act was recorded on at least seven different cameras make it even more incredible. Two of the videos were taken by the youths on the roof after the beating, whilst the other 5 are taken from other onlookers. By combining the two videos recorded by the youths, and the 5 recorded by onlookers, it is possible to verify what happened.
Twitter user Fatema Naser (@iFattema) was a witness on the Shakura incident and she posted many pictures of those serious injuries [pictures in her tweets are GRAPHIC]:
@iFattema: This man was beaten with batons on his head +face & one of the police put his foot on his nose until fracture. http://yfrog.com/esynplj
@iFattema: This young man was hit in his face until his eye disappeared (The doctors were working hard) http://t.co/MJYgrHkF
@iFattema: http://yfrog.com/gzvb2arj
@iFattema: This man was hit on his head. & cut off part of his fingers with a knife!!! But he was really 9UMOOOD [Resistance]!! http://yfrog.com/h7baeqhj #Bahrain
@iFattema: This injured I cried when I saw him!! His skull was broken,His hands&feet were mutilated with knives!!!!! http://twitpic.com/7u2tah
@iFattema: This young man was beaten on his head with batons. (Doctors stitching his wounds) http://twitpic.com/7u2ux0 taken by @Mo7ammedMirza
@iFattema: There were abt 19 injured. All of them were beaten with batons+knives+iron bars after throwing them on the ground &tying their hands.
Last February, when the uprising first started, protesters were getting arrested from the hospitals when they go there to treat their injuries. Medics, on the other hand, were sentenced to up to 15 years in jail for treating protesters. Bahrainis tweeted how protesters and medics are dealing with this now.
@Bahrain_Victory: Serious injuries being treated at homes by nurses, no one can go to hospital bcuz they will be arrested http://t.co/XMbAYIgy
This video shows those beaten on the roof of that house in Shakurah getting treated in a house.
This post is part of our special coverage Bahrain Protests 2011.