Bahrain Mirror: The Fourth Bahraini High Criminal Court upheld two-year prison sentences issued against for defendants accused of assembling and hurling Molotov cocktails at two police vehicles in Sitra.

One of the defendants challenged the ruling by Cassation Court that accepted the appeal in form and in substance by overturning the contested verdict and ordering a re-trial. The court affirmed in its merits that the defense of the accused did not bring anything new that would affect the soundness of the challenged ruling, upholding it by sentencing the defendant to years in prison.

Human rights groups challenge the incidents attributed to defendants due to doubts about the independence of the Bahraini judiciary, whose members are appointed by royal decrees, while convictions are based on confessions obtained under torture, evidence from secret investigations and anonymous witnesses.

Arabic Version