Bahrain Mirror: The High Appeals Court upheld a first-instance verdict issued by the fourth high criminal court in the case of detonating a bomb and acquiring arms, sentencing 10 suspects to periods reaching 30 years.

The first-instance court handed down 30-year jail term to 2 suspects and life-imprisonment to 2 others. It also sentenced 4 suspects to 15 years in prison and another 2 to 3 years after convicting them of detonating a bomb in Al-Ekr, manufacturing, acquiring and using explosives, acquiring arms and ammunitions as well as resisting policemen.

The prosecution claims that it relied on hearsay evidence, the attesting witnesses as well as the technical reports. Thus, it referred the suspects to the fourth high criminal court.

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