Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain High Criminal Court, headed by Judge Sheikh Mohammed bin Ali Al Khalifa and membership of the two judges, Dia Huraidi and Saber Jomaa, and secretariat of Naji Abdullah, has commenced the trial of 5 Bahrainis accused of spying with Iran's Revolutionary Guard aiming at carrying out explosions and destabilizing security.

The court scheduled May 13, 2015 as a date for the defendants' lawyers to submit defence papers.

Two lawyers accompanied 2 of the accused and requested more time to submit defence papers after giving them a copy of the case's papers, releasing the 2 accused, besides adding the torture complaint of one of the accused to the case's file. Meanwhile, the 2 accused denied the charges raised against them and stressed that the use of torture forced them to say these confessions.

The Public Prosecution charged the 5 accused that in August and September 2014 they sought and collaborated with a foreign country (Iran) and with those working to its advantage to make hostile acts against Kingdom of Bahrain, as they "sought and collaborated with members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard to commit hostile acts that target public institutions, financial institutions and banks" according to the Public Prosecution, which added "The accused communicated among each other from one side and with the Iranians from another side to commit these actions. The first and second accused were departed and military trained in camps in Iran to manufacture and use explosives and firearms in preparation for committing these hostilities".

Human Rights organizations refute the charges raised against the accused due to doubts in the independence of the Bahraini judiciary whose members are assigned by royal decrees, noting that the Bahraini judiciary depends on the confessions extracted under duress and evidences presented by confidential investigations and unknown witnesses to issue its judgments.

The Arabic Issue: