Bahrain Mirror: The First Criminal Appeals Court decided to commute the 10-year jail verdict issued against suspect accused of attempting to kill policemen to 7 years in jail, after it changed his charge from attempting to murder to attacking the bodily integrity of 2 policemen.

The first-instance court had convicted 31 defendants of attempting to murder policemen and possessing weapons and Molotov. Among the defendants, 6 were sentenced to 15 years in prison for the charges of attempting to kill and possessing weapons, while 24 defendants were sentenced to 10 years for charges of participating in illegal assembly and possessing Molotov cocktails. The court issued a 5-year prison verdict against the only defendant who is under 18 years old.

The Public Prosecution accused the first 4 suspects of deliberately attempting, along with other unknowns, on July 23, 2018, to murder 3 policemen and acquiring shotgun and ammunition.

The prosecution accused the suspects from the fifth until the last one of participating with the 4 suspects and helping them to commit the said crime. It also accused all of the suspects of taking part in an assembly of more than 5 persons aiming at disrupting public peace and acquiring Molotov cocktails.

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