Bahraini activist claims he was victim of attempted murder after London embassy staff 'threatened him on roof'

A Bahraini dissident who claims staff from the country’s embassy in London tried to throw him off a building roof has filed a criminal complaint.

Moosa Mohammed, 38, told police in central London on Tuesday that he had been a victim of attempted murder when embassy staff members beat up and threatened to kill him in July.

Mr Mohammed said he climbed on to the roof of embassy in Knightsbridge, west London, to protest against Bahrain's planned execution of alleged torture victims Ali Mohamed Hakeem al-Arab and Ahmed Isa Ahmed Isa al-Malali. The two were killed by firing squad on July 27, the day after the alleged assault on Mr Mohammed.

The activist, who obtained asylum and has lived in the UK since 2006, was seen by observers on the street below perching precariously on the ledge of the roof.

A video of the incident, released by the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, appears to show one person then hitting Mr Mohammed with a plank of wood.

According to Mr Mohammed’s statement, one of the embassy staffers had said: “We have two people being executed in Bahrain and you will be the third”.

Officers were called to the embassy to reports of a man on the roof. They then took the unusual step of entering the diplomatic premises, where they detained Mr Mohammed on suspicion of trespass.

Mr Mohammed, who had been repeatedly detained and harassed by Bahraini authorities before he fled to the UK, claimed before officers reached him two embassy staffers held him down and tried to suffocate him with a wet T-shirt.

He said had the police failed to intervene, saying: "I truly believe they would have killed me."

The Bahraini embassy said the allegation that “embassy staff were trying to kill Mr Mohammed is completely unfounded and ridiculous”.

It said in a statement released at the time that the dissident was threatening to jump off and was restrained "for his own safety until police arrived."