Bahrain Mirror: The Fifth High Criminal Appeals Court commuted a 10-year jail term issued against a Bahraini, accused on joining "Saraya Al-Mokhtar" and attempting to kill a police officer through shooting him in Sitra, to 5 years.

The first instance court had sentenced the appellant and 16 others to prison terms ranging from life term and 10 and 3-year jail term.

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