Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's Fourth High Criminal Court, presided over by judge Ali Al-Dhahrani with the membership of judges Hamad bin Salman Al Khalifa and Mohammad Jamal Awad and Ahmad Sulaiman as secretariat, sentenced to life imprisonment a suspect accused of attempted murder of two policemen, by manufacturing and detonating a bomb in the restroom of a gas station in Al-Maqsha village at the time the policemen entered. The court also sentenced a second suspect to three years in prison for knowing that a terrorist crime was about to be committed without reporting it to the authorities.

The Public Prosecution claimed that the two suspects that on January 31, 2015:

1st: The first suspect: attempted to murder the two victims - policemen intentionally and premeditatedly, used explosives intentionally in a manner that endangers people's lives and properties, detonated a bomb for a terrorist purpose, manufactured, had possession of and used explosives without a permit from the competent authorities, and deliberately damaged fixed and mobile properties.

2nd: The second suspect knew that a crime was about to happen for a terrorist purposes and didn't report it to the authorities as soon as he knew. He was also aware through the first suspect of the offenses listed in the previous paragraph and didn't report them.

The authorities claimed that the investigations indicated that the first suspect and unknown others monitored the public security forces based in the village of Al-Maqsha and realized that they use the public restroom of one of the gas stations. Thus, the first suspect planted a bomb inside the restroom; and after the policemen entered, one of them detonated the explosives. They also claimed that two policemen were severely injured.

Human rights organizations challenge the charges raised against the suspects 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 Issue: