Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's High Appeals Court upheld life sentences issued against 3 appellants and commuted a life-term sentence issued against another to 15 years in prison, over killing policeman Yasser Khan in the case of blasting a bomb near Wadiyan cemetery that injured 2 other policemen.

The authorities claim that a group of protestors gathered in Sitra and started to throw metal rods and Molotov against policemen. The protestors then divided into two parts. One of the parts entered a blocked street. The killed policeman tried to remove the barriers, but the bomb exploded in his face. The policeman sustained serious injuries that caused his death, while 2 other policemen were injured.

Human rights organizations challenge the charges raised against political detainees, since they doubt the independence of the judiciary, whose members are assigned by royal decrees, and since it issues sentences based on confessions extracted under duress and evidence presented by secret investigations and anonymous witnesses.

Arabic Version