Bahrain Mirror: Many questions were raised after 22-year-old Bahraini Abdullah Al-Ajooz, died as police attempted to arrest him in his hometown of Nuwaidrat on Monday (February 20, 2017). The suspicious circumstances surrounding his death raised speculations and prompted angry protests to erupt across the country.

On his Wordpress blog, Marc Owen Jones addressed the incident questioning the Bahraini Interior Ministry's narrative. He said that the Interior Ministry reported that Al-Ajooz fell when he tried to flee the scene of the arrest, but "as is usual, the MOI did not feel it necessary to provide much detail,  leaving people to speculate as the actual cause of Abdullah's death."

It is worthy to note that Abdullah Al-Ajooz escaped from the Dry Docks in 2016, and is the 4th escaped prisoner to have been killed after coming into contact with the Interior Ministry. The other three were allegedly killed at sea in suspicious circumstances, including Rida Al-Ghasra.

Jones further stressed that as many Bahrainis know, "it is important always to question the official narrative in Bahrain, as the MOI have previously lied about systematic torture."

#ÇáÔåíÏ_ÚÈÏÇááå_ÇáÚÌæÒ Rest in peace... #Bahrain pic.twitter.com/GpoMGRxBML

— Marc Owen Jones (@marcowenjones) February 20, 2017

Regarding Abdullah's death, Jones said that initial reports stated he had been shot, noting that no bullet wounds; however, were visible on the body in pictures. He further noted that from the images of his body, "there is clear head trauma," which suggests that he landed on his head.

Images showing 21YO martyr Abdulla AlAjooz's head wounds after he was fatally shot by #Bahrain govt forces#ÇáÔåíÏ_ÚÈÏÇááå_ÇáÚÌæÒ #ÇáäæíÏÑÇÊ pic.twitter.com/q0HA5UnONx

— Printemps Arabe (@PrintempsArabeS) February 21, 2017

He added that it is possible that an accidental fall could result in such head injuries. "This, of course, does not discount accusations that Abdullah was pushed, or killed beforehand and thrown off the edge," he noted.

He further explained that if Abdullah was fleeing, it is less likely he fell by accident but was facing the direction of travel, which would imply a different course of fall.

"Indeed, similar accusations have been raised before about young men being thrown off building by the police in Bahrain."

The expert on Bahrain and the Gulf stressed that it is not clear either about the quality of autopsy given in Bahrain, pointing out that the security forces pressured the family to conduct the burial as early as possible. He added that determining whether Abdullah was pushed is difficult, although some signs of a homicide can be shown. It is; however, not clear whether the autopsy accounted for this.

Based on  study, he highlighted that ‘this problem has been exacerbated by the fact that autopsies are not generally practised in the country unless there is suspicion of crime'. As suspicion of a crime is dictated by the MOI, who state quite clearly that the suspect fell, then one has to wonder whether to independence of the coroner can be affected.

He further mentioned that the death of Yousef Mowali demonstrates the importance of independent forensic reports. He said a Bahrain state doctor had reported the cause of Mowali's death as drowning and ruled out signs of violence; however, Al Jazeera has exclusively obtained a report from a second autopsy performed by an independent forensic pathologist that concludes Mowali was electrically tortured and unconscious when he drowned.

Marc Owen Jones concluded his article by stressing that "it is certainly unusual that the MOI's confrontation with another fugitive has resulted in yet another death," making this the 4th death this year. "There are important questions to be asked," he added, "at a time when the government clearly feel able to get away with murder and/or extrajudicial killing."

Arabic Version