Six jailed for setting Bahrain MP's two cars on fire

Manama : Six men convicted of burning MP Shaikh Majeed Al Asfoor’s cars during the 2014’s elections have had their jail terms reduced on appeal.

They were earlier handed down 10 years in prison each, but the Supreme Appeals Court gave the first and second defendants seven years behind the bars each, while the remaining defendants’ prison sentences were reduced to five years each.

Two cars belonging to Shaikh Al Asfoor, who was elected unopposed, were set on fire last year after he had registered as a parliamentary candidate in the Capital Governorate’s constituency eight.  Of the six defendants, who are aged between 15 and 23, only four are in police custody as the others are at large and are being tried in absentia.

Although the four men entered a not-guilty plea, one of them had earlier admitted to the prosecutors during investigation to committing the attack with firebombs, adding that they wanted to teach him a lesson after he decided to run for the parliamentary election. 

The defendant, who was working as a security man in a local mall, said, “I went to my grandmother’s house in Sitra one day prior to the incident, and there I met two of my friends (they are among the defendants). 

“They told me of his (Shaikh Al Asfoor) intention to stand for the election. Therefore we decided to attack his cars in an effort to give him a lesson and to run away from our neighbourhood,” he added.

Prosecutors said the defendants had used firebombs to burn the cars, all of which were provided by their fifth co-defendant. All the defendants were accused on the grounds of arson, damaging private properties, possessing firebombs and participating in an illegal gathering.