5 get life term for placing bomb near police post

Five defendants, accused of manufacturing an explosive and planting it near a police checkpoint, have been slapped with life sentences each. 

The bomb failed to explode and was later found by police officers. The five Bahraini men have been arrested later after detectives’ investigations confirmed their role in planting the explosive. 

According to court files, the improvised bomb was made of a fire extinguisher that was adjusted and was connected with a mobile phone. They planted it on June 4 last year in Janabiya Highway. The defendants tried to contact the phone connected with the bomb so it explodes, but it didn’t blow up. 

The bomb was detonated by a robot in the scene and the explosion broke two windows of a house near the area, according to court files. 

A SIM card was unearthed from the scene and it was revealed that the fourth defendant made the last call on it. The first defendant said during questioning that he met the fourth defendant and he told him of his desire to obtain a mobile phone to use it to detonate an improvised bomb. 

“We went to a local mobile shop and bought a phone as well as a SIM card that was registered under the name of an Asian domestic servant without her knowledge. We called it to make sure that it was working,” the first defendant told prosecutors. 

“Then, we met the second defendant near a cold store and he was holding a bag containing wires and a soldering tool. He requested me to contact the third defendant so that we could go to his wife to assemble the bomb,” he added. 

“After two months, we received a phone call from the fifth defendant, who told us that they were planning to target police officers. So, we joined them and inserted the SIM card in the phone that was connected with the bomb and we planted it near the place where the police officers were stationed,” the first defendant explained. 

The fourth and the fifth defendants are under the age of 18. They were already convicted in similar cases along with the first defendant. 

“As they (the fourth and the fifth defendants) were aged under 18, the court could have handed them down mercy sentences, but instead they were given the maximum punishment for such a crime based on Article 77 of Bahrain’s Criminal Law,” the court ruling read.