"The defense presented a motion during the court
hearing today clarifying the difficulties the lawyers have faced in carrying
out their mission in addition to abuses that need to be investigated and the
poor conditions under which the accused are detained," Mohammed Al-Tajer
said.
"We made clear to the court that we are not able to
continue our mission under these conditions, and we withdrew," he said.
The court decided to appoint new attorneys to represent the
activists and adjourned the trial until Dec. 23, said Al-Tajer.
The 25 activists, including two who are being tried in
absentia, are accused of forming an illegal organization, engaging in and
financing terrorism, and spreading false and misleading information, according
to the indictment.
Some of the charges carry a sentence of life in prison, one
of the lawyers has said.
At the opening hearing on Oct. 28, the 23 defendants
appeared in court and pleaded not guilty, while alleging they had been
tortured.
The court declined at that hearing to probe the allegations,
but a government statement the same day said a "senior forensic science
consultant" had examined 13 defendants and concluded they had not been
tortured.
Al-Tajer said lawyers had renewed calls for an investigation
at the second hearing on Nov. 11.
He also said at the time that "certain decisions of the
court, including the transfer of the defendants from a state security prison to
an ordinary one, have not been implemented."
Another defense attorney, Jalila Al-Sayed, said the 25-member
legal team walked out after failing to get a court-ordered probe into alleged
jailhouse beatings and other abuses against the suspects, who include human
rights activists and bloggers.
"We withdrew because the court disregards our requests
to investigate the torture claims," said Al-Sayed. "We now consider
this trial to be unfair and against international standards and we won't be
part of it."
In the 1990s, Bahrain was plagued by a wave of opposition
unrest that has abated since 2001 reforms restored the Gulf state's elected
Parliament, which was dissolved in 1975, and turned the emirate into a
constitutional monarchy.
Parliament's powers were diluted, however, with the
formation of an appointed upper house.
The walkout was the latest tactic to draw attention to
prisoner abuse claims and force a deeper look into a major crackdown on
dissidents in the kingdom that hosts the US Navy's 5th Fleet.
The arrests of the activists were part of a sweeping
offensive launched last summer against threats to the state. The detentions
touched off riots and rallies that have severely strained relations between
rival communities in the country.
Washington and allies worry that the widening rifts could
roll back a decade of political reforms and open footholds for outside powers.
