Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's Fourth High Criminal Court, presided over by judge Ali bin Khalifa Al-Dhahrani, with the membership of judges Hamad bin Salman Al Khalifa and Jamal Awad, and Ahmad Al-Sulaiman as secretariat, sentenced four Bahrainis accused of setting fire to an power box for Batelco company in Jidhafs, assaulting policemen and making an assembly to 5 years in prison.

The authorities claim that about 80 people took to the streets of Jidhafs near Abulkarim Roundabout and they set fire to a power box for Batelco. As a result, the security forces headed to the location and started dispersing the protestors. The protestors; however, threw iron rods, stones and Molotov cocktails at the policemen. One policeman sustained minor injuries. The security forces managed to disperse the protestors and extinguish the fire.

Human rights organizations challenge the charges raised against the suspects 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 Issue