Bahrain Mirror: The High Court of Appeal in Bahrain handed down a 15-year prison term instead of life imprisonment to four defendants in the case of communicating with Iran, establishing and joining a terrorist group, training on the use of weapons and explosives, and importing weapons, ammunition and explosives from Iran. The court also stripped the defendants of their citizenships.

The four appellants were among the eight convicted by the court in this case, as the court had sentenced the first six defendants to life imprisonment and the seventh and eighth defendants to 15 years' imprisonment, as well as the revocation of the nationality of the all accused and confiscation of seized objects.

The charges raised by the Public Prosecutor's Office state that the defendants from 2013 to 2015 in the Kingdom of Bahrain committed the following:

First: The first defendant worked for a foreign country, the Republic of Iran, and communicated with someone who serves Iran's interests, called Abu Hadi, to carry out hostile acts against the Kingdom of Bahrain by providing him with information about the Coast Guard security patrols and their stop points, so that weapons and explosives would be successfully smuggled. The crimes were committed based on that information.

Second: The first and second defendants trained on the use of weapons and explosives for the purpose of committing terrorist crimes.

Third: The first five defendants committed the following:

1. Joined a group and participated in its activities while aware of its terrorist purposes.

2. Imported firearms, ammunition, and explosives by sea without a license issued by the Minister of Interior.

3. Obtained and possessed firearms, ammunition and explosives without licence issued by the Minister of Interior.

Fourth: The sixth defendant founded a group whose purpose was to call for the disruption of the provisions of the Constitution or laws.

Fifth: The seventh and eighth defendants participated along with another deceased person by means of incitement, agreement and assistance with the first and second defendants in committing the said crime, after encouraging them to receive that military training.

Human rights groups challenge events attributed to defendants due to doubts over the independence of the Bahraini judiciary, whose members are appointed by royal decrees, while rulings are based on confessions extracted under torture, evidence provided by secret investigations and anonymous witnesses.

Arabic Version