Bahrain Mirror: The High Appeals Court commuted a 7-year sentence issued against one of defendants over charge of setting fire to an ATM in Salmabad in 2014. The court commuted the sentence to 5 years and upheld fining him, along with the other suspects, for the damages caused to the machine.

The authorities claim that a sabotage act led to entirely burning the ATM in Salmabad, saying that the investigations showed that 4 suspects took part in the crime.

The Public Prosecution accused the suspects of deliberately setting, along with other unknowns, on October 16, 2014, fire to ATM owned by bank, that would put people's lives and money to danger and acquiring Molotov, aiming at using them to endanger people's lives and public and private money.

The first instance court sentenced 3 suspects to 15 years in jail and sentenced the appellant to 7 years because he was under 18 years old when committing the crime and bound them all to pay 20 thousand and 250 BD for the damages caused to the machine. The appellant appealed the verdict. The appeals court accepted the appeals in from, and commuted the verdict to 5 years in substance.

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