Bahrain Mirror: The Sixth High Criminal Appeals Court upheld imprisoning a 25-year-old youth for 7 years and other two fugitive convicts sentenced to 10 years in prison over the charge of joining "Al-Wafa Party" and "recruiting individuals in it", aiming at transferring money among its members to use it in subversive activities, protests and riots. The court also stripped the suspects of their citizenships and ordered the confiscation of seized items.

The authorities claim that the first and second suspects (30 and 22 years old, residing in Iran and leaders in the Islamic Al-Wafa Party) led a terrorist group that aims at changing the state's constitution and statute through spreading chaos in the country, committing crimes of violence, vandalism, attacking public and private properties, intimidating citizens and damaging national unity.

According to the authorities, the third suspects "the appellant" transferred money in envelopes from Abu Saiba cemetery to Jablat Habshi cemetery and from behind one of the mosques in Karana and distributed it in Al-Daih, Sanabis and Al-Musalla. He also transferred money from Abu Saiba cemetery to Sanabis and moved banners from a place to another.

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