UK court overturns ruling on Bahrain prince immunity

The High Court in the UK has stripped Bahrain’s Prince Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa of immunity from prosecution over allegations of involvement in torturing protesters.

A judge at the London-based court announced the annulment of a previous ruling by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that gave the Bahraini prince the special privilege. The case against Prince Nasser was launched in British courts in 2012.

CPS had previously said that the Bahraini prince could not be investigated over allegations of being involved in the torture of Bahraini protesters in 2011. The prosecution service decided that the son of the King of Bahrain has immunity as commander of the Royal Guard of Bahrain and cannot be prosecuted.

The court ruling, however, was overturned on Tuesday following a review requested by a Bahraini torture survivor, identified as FF. The Bahraini figure says he was beaten and given a jail term after participating in anti-regime protests in Bahrain in February 2011.