Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's First High Criminal Court, presided over by judge Mohammad bin Ali Al Khalifa with the membership of judges Dia' Huraidi and Issam-Eldeen Mohammad Khalil and Ahmad Al-Sulaiman as secretariat, sentenced 4 suspects to 3 years in prison over planting a hoax bomb in Bahrain's island of Sitra.

The court said that the suspects are under 18 years of age; therefore, pursuant to the articles 70 and 71 of the Penal code, their sentences were computed.

The Public Prosecution claimed that the suspects, on September 11, 2014, planted a hoax bomb in a public place for a terrorist aim.

The authorities said that 3 suspects, along with others, manufactured a hoax bomb and planted it near one of Sitra's banks. The authorities arrested the first and fourth suspect and stated that the suspects confessed that they committed the crime. The security authorities also found a blackberry phone, electrical wires, adhesive tape and a plastic tube.

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