The public prosecution “accused the policeman who opened fire on one of the attackers of premeditated murder,” said official, Nawaf Hamza, late on Wednesday, according to BNA state news agency.
He said the accused was released but has been banned from travel. His name and nationality have not been revealed.
But the public prosecution issued a later statement saying the charge against the policeman was “preliminary”, pending an investigation which so far shows the killing was “likely a case of self defence.” Sixteen-year-old Shiite Hussam al-Haddad died of his injuries on Aug.17, after police opened fire under attack from petrol bombs in Sunni-dominated Muharaq, close to the capital, according to the interior ministry.
The Sunni-ruled kingdom, home to the US Fifth Fleet and strategically situated across the Gulf from Iran, has continued to witness sporadic Shiite-led demonstrations mostly outside the capital since it crushed a pro-democracy uprising in March last year.
Hamza said the investigation revealed that police fired warning shots at 25 to 30 protesters attacking their patrol with petrol bombs, and that the defendant shot Haddad as he was about to hit him from close range with a Molotov cocktail.
The ministry had said at the time that security forces acted in self-defence.
The main Shiite opposition group, Al-Wefaq, condemned the “barbaric” attack on the teenager.
It posted pictures on its Facebook page of Haddad’s injuries, including shotgun wounds to his back and right arm. Bahraini security forces have widely used shotgun pellets and tear gas to disperse protesters.
