Bahrain Mirror: The fourth High Criminal Court, presided over by judge Ali Al-Dhahrani, revoked the citizenships of 9 citizens and sentenced them to prison terms ranging between 3 and 15 years, over a case of attacking policemen in Al-Janabiyah.

The fourth High Criminal Court issued today (May 21, 2018) its verdicts against ten terror suspects, Terror Crime Chief Prosecutor Advocate General Chancellor Ahmed Al-Hammadi said. The convicts were accused of setting up and joining a terrorist group, training on using and making fire weapons to commit terror crimes, making and possessing fire weapons and ammunition without authorization and attacking policemen.  The court sentenced one of the suspects to 15 years in jail, two to ten years, six to three years, acquitted one and ruled the revocation of the Bahraini citizenship of the first 9 suspects. It also ordered confiscation of the seized items.

The authorities claim that the first, second, fourth and fifth suspects took part in shooting policemen with a homemade firearm while they were deployed on Al-Janabiyah public road. The first and second suspects were arrested and the firearm, bullets as well as materials used for making homemade fire weapons were found in their possession.

The authorities also allege that the first, second and fifth suspects also participated in another shooting incident which targeted a police patrol deployed on Al-Janabiyah road. They also claim that the third suspect agreed with the ninth on establishing a "terrorist group" that included the rest of suspects.

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