Bahrain Mirror: A Bahraini court issued on Thursday (October 27, 2016) harsh sentences against 15 dissident accused of establishing a terrorist group; a charge the authorities usually bring against opposition activists.

The court sentenced 3 suspects to life-imprisonment and fined each of them 200.000 BD. It also handed down 15-year jail term to 2 suspects, 10-year jail term to 3 suspects and 7-year jail term to 7 others. The court revoked the citizenships of all suspects over "establishing a terrorist group, managing it, joining it and raising money to fund the cell."

Among the suspects were Sheikh Mohammad Ali Al-Tal who took refuge in Germany before the authorities raised the charges of establishing the group against him. The court sentenced Al-Tal among with two others, Mohammad Al-A'ali and Ismail Abdulaziz, to life-imprisonment, it also fined him 200.000 BD.

Terror Crime Chief Prosecutor Isa Al-Ruwaie said that the Public Prosecution relied in its investigation on verbal evidence, including the prosecution witnesses' testimonies, as well as technical evidence.

Local and international human rights organizations confirm that Bahrain is resorting to torture to extract confessions from defendants and use them for their conviction in court.

Arabic Version