A Bahraini court has cleared a security officer of shooting at a protester during a peaceful demonstration earlier this year against the arrest of the country’s top Shia cleric.

The court on Sunday acquitted the officer who had been arrested after a video emerged showing the protester receiving a gunshot.

The victim was carrying a photo of Sheikh Ali Salman, the head of Bahrain’s main opposition bloc al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, when the officer clambered out of an armored vehicle and opened fire at the peaceful rally.

The sharing of the video in social media elicited reaction from human rights activists who expressed anger at Al Khalifa regime forces’ use of live rounds against peaceful protests.

The Bahraini judiciary has already cleared a number of security officers involved in the death or injury of demonstrators.    

In 2013, Bahraini Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa had come out in support of the brutality of security forces, saying, “No one can apply the law to you. No one can do anything about what I’m saying to you. Whoever applies these laws against you is using them against us. We are one.”

Salman was detained on December 28, 2014 on charges of attempting to overthrow the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty and collaboration with foreign powers. He has strongly denied the charges, emphasizing that he has been seeking reforms in Bahrain through peaceful means.

Manama continues to arrest anti-regime forces to silence opposition voices and intimidate people in a bid to put an end to rallies and protests.  

Since mid-February 2011, thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations almost on a daily basis in the streets of the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom, calling for the Al Khalifa family to relinquish power.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others injured or arrested in the ongoing heavy-handed crackdown on peaceful rallies.

Courts in Bahrain have also handed down long-term sentences to protesters and activists in the country.