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, accused 11 suspects of blowing up a gas cylinder in front of a currency exchange office in the Bahraini village of Saar, causing damages to the office and nearby shops.

The court sentenced the first 4 suspects and from the seventh suspect to the eleventh to 10 years in prison, and the fifth and sixth suspects who are under 18 years of age to 5 years in prison.

The Public Prosecution claimed that they along with unknown others on April 23, 2015 in the Security Service of the Northern Governorate started a fire in the currency exchange office of Saar village, endangering the lives of people; and attempted alongside unknown others to detonate a bombing for a terrorist purpose. The prosecution also accused them of participating in a gathering of more than five persons, aiming at disrupting public security, and having possession of Molotov cocktails.

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