Bahrain Mirror: The Bahraini High Court of Appeal upheld a 35-year prison term for a defendant accused of involvement in a bomb blast in Karana and attempted murder of two policemen. The sentence included life imprisonment for attempted murder and 10 years' imprisonment for manufacturing a homemade bomb.

The first instance court had convicted 12 defendants of the incident, sentencing the second, fourth, seventh and eleventh defendants to life imprisonment, the first, third, fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, tenth and twelfth years to three years in prison, and also the first defendant to three years for the fourth charge, and the second and eleventh to 10 years for the third charge, in the case involving the detonation of a bomb in Karana and the attempted murder of two policemen.

The court jointly fined the first, second, fourth, fifth, seventh and eleventh defendants 1,298 dinars and 900 fils for the damages caused to the police patrol vehicle.

The third, sixth, eighth, ninth, tenth and twelfth defendants were acquitted of the charges of attempting to kill the policemen, detonating and manufacturing an explosive device, and damaging a police patrol vehicle.

The authorities accuse the defendants along with unknown suspects of deliberately attempting to murder two policemen and others with premeditation on July 17, 2015, i.e. by planning to kill any of the police officers assigned to maintain security by planting an explosive device underground in a sand yard and then luring the police officers in the area of ​​Karana, throwing Molotov cocktails. The authorities stated that after the victims arrived to the scene to impose security, the explosive device was detonated with the intent to kill the officers, adding that the victims were attacked due to the fact that they are public officials performing their duties as part of the implementation of a collective criminal plot for a terrorist purpose.

The authorities say the defendants, along with unknown others, detonated for a terrorist purpose a bomb on a highway targeting the police, as well acquired, used and had possession of an explosive device, tools and materials used to detonate it without a license, destroyed a security patrol vehicle belonging to the Ministry of the Interior, acquired and had possession of Molotov cocktails and participated in a public gathering.

The High Court of Appeals upheld the verdict against 11 out of 12 defendants in the case. The 11th defendants submitted an appeal which was rejected by court that upheld the ruling.

Arabic Version