Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's first criminal court ruled on Sunday (July 7, 2019) that Yasser Al-Attar, the Egyptian adviser to Bahrain Chamber of Commerce chairman Samir Nass, was acquitted of the charge of insulting and inciting hatred against the Shiite sect.

The court fined Al-Attar 300 dinars in the case of assaulting others (Shiite merchants), while fined three Shiite merchants 100 dinars each for "assault" on the defendant Al-Attar.

The court said in the ruling acquitting Al-Attar of the first charge that the Shia is a name given to a group of Muslims, which in the Arabic language means followers and supporters, and that a person pointing out that someone belongs to the Shiite sect would not result in contempt for that sect. What the accused did by telling someone "you belong to the Shiites" would not be considered a scornful act. Also, "you are funded by Iran" was a statement directed at the person of the victim, not the Shiite community. The defendant didn't say that the Shiite sect is funded by Iran as mentioned in the description of the prosecution.

The court noted that the defendant did not fulfill a criminal intent, i.e. the intention to incite hatred against the target group in terms of words spoken and the dialect used, since what the accused uttered was not intended to incite hatred, but was the result of the dispute between the accused and the victim.

Regarding the fining of three traders with 100 dinars each for the assault on Yasser Al-Attar, the court indicated that the second and third defendants confessed the incident and assaulted the Egyptian lawyer during a verbal altercation, proving that the defendants assaulted him instead of reporting to the public authorities. They also could avoid entering into a quarrel, and they do not fulfill the conditions of legitimate defense. For these reasons, the court fined each one of them 100 dinars for the charges raised against them.

Arabic Version