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 Jamal Awad and Ahmad Sulaiman as secretariat, sentenced 3 suspects to 15 years in prison over the possession of firearms without permits and explosives aiming at detonating them. The court also handed down 10 year prison terms to 2 others over planting explosives in burning tires aiming at tricking the policemen and targeting them with the bombing. The bomb; however, didn't explode.

The Public Prosecution accused the first, fourth and fifth suspects alongside unknown others of attempting to detonate a bombing in Bahrain's Nuwaidrat by planting explosives and detonating them targeting the police. The Prosecution also accused the second and third suspects of involvement in the incident by agreeing with and assisting other suspects to commit the previously mentioned crimes.

The Prosecution also accused all the suspects of possessing explosives; the first, second and third suspects of acquiring, possessing and manufacturing with unknown others weapons without a permit and possessing 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