Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): After 2011, accusations against the Bahraini judiciary of being used as a tool to retaliate against the opposition increased. The government used to answer these accusations by stressing on the "independence and integrity of the judiciary".

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa made the latest response, commenting on a US State Department statement that was circulated on Al-Jazeera Channel, in which it demanded the prosecutor in Bahrain not to appeal the acquittal verdict of opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, of charges of colluding with Qatar, and release him.

"The Bahraini judiciary doesn't allow or accept anyone to interfere in its domain of work. It also doesn't give any consideration to any comments from foreign parties. Al-Jazeera won't succeed this time in affecting the relationship between Bahrain and its allies," said the Minister on his Twitter account, calling on Al-Jazeera to concern itself with another topic.

However, is it true that the Bahraini judiciary doesn't allow any interference in its domain of work?

The issue does not include pressure groups and human rights organizations this time, but is rather about an investor who is struggling to recover huge financial rights from a senior member of the Bahraini ruling family.

The Bahraini Minister posted the tweet at a time when judges were resigning from their posts, out of fear of issuing a verdict in a dispute between Egyptian businessman of Palestinian origin, Ahmed Al-Aryan and Deputy Prime Minister Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, who owns the Al-Dana complex (West of Manama).

The dispute dates back to when Al-Aryan rented Al-Dana complex from Khalid bin Abdullah in 2002. Al-Aryan later was surprised to find out that the complex's temperature is very high. Based on a technical report from the owner's consultant, the lessee paid 415,000 BD to improve the quality of air-conditioning.

Al-Aryan stressed, in a video, that the problem became worse when the owner confessed that the flaw was not in the air-conditioning, but in the structure itself, as the building was built contrary to engineering specifications stated by the owner of the complex to the Manama municipality.

He went on to say that the problem worsened in 2008 when they resorted to courts. "I complain about the high temperatures and he complains about me not making the monthly payment that I used to repair the air-conditioning," he stressed.

The court appointed engineer Mounir Yaakoubi who pointed out in a detailed report that the flaw is related to engineering and structural problems and that the owner is responsible for fixing the flaws in the building structure and its roof, which should be isolated. The court also appointed an expert to assess the lack of benefits from 2002 until 2009. The expert estimated that Al-Arayn's compensation at 20 million BD.

Al-Aryan adds that "at the (Sheikh's) request, the court appointed another engineer, Abdullah Behzad, who confirmed the existence of the same problem."  Behzad said that it is an industrial building and not a commercial one, which means that the landlord committed fraud by obtaining a license for a commercial not industrial complex.

The court ruled the need to repair the roof in order to lower the temperature. Thus, Al-Aryan paid costs amounting to about 3 million dinars. The court appointed 5 experts to assess the losses of Al-Aryan. On November 26, 2017, after 8 years of study, the committee ruled paying him 69 million dinars as compensation and giving him the right to rent the building until March 2026 without pay.

At the orders of the judicial inspection of the Supreme Judiciary Council, headed by the King of Bahrain, the court refused to receive the report of the committee. Al-Aryan said "the judge left his post after he refused to receive the report (...) 15 other judges did the same. No one wants to rule in this case. 15 experts refused to write reports too".

Al-Aryan further stated that the case was transferred to another directorate and the new judge refused to receive documents and reports (11,000 papers) and expelled Al-Aryan from the complex.

The judiciary simply expelled the investor (Al-Aryan), despite the experts' reports that stressed his right to invest in the complex that contains presentation screens and local and regional malls. The judiciary is used and exploited by the Al Khalifa family whenever the issue is related to their interests.

It is noteworthy that, besides Al-Aryan's case, there are 400 cases pending in execution courts against members of the ruling family, according to statements issued by a Bahraini lawyer in 2014. Lawyer Fatima Al-Hawaj stressed that "in an [alleged] state of law, all the executing judges refuse to take executive orders against [royal] family members. All they do is send a letter to the family Council that fall on deaf ears."

About what independent judiciary does the Minister of Foreign Affairs speak, if the situation is this bad?  

Arabic Version