Bahrain must impose death penalty for terrorists

Manama : Citing that rigorous punishments have seldom been used against terrorists, MP Jamal Buhassan has called for enforcing death penalties to eliminate terrorism from the society. “Terrorists are at ease knowing that no firm punishments would be used against them. They will continue killing innocent people as long as they know that they will go scot-free,” he noted. 

Speaking to DT News yesterday, Buhassan informed that “the last death penalty that was enforced in Bahrain was more than a decade ago.” “More than five people had been sentenced to death since the sad events of 2011, yet none of the verdicts were enforced and they weren’t even referred to His Majesty the King for ratification. About 19 policemen were killed in the same period. They’re premeditated murder cases and the killers should be given death penalty,” Buhassan pointed out. The MP blamed the deteriorating security situations in the country due to the absence of deterrent punishments for terrorists and criminals. “As a representative of the people of Bahrain I say that enforcing Qisas on terrorists is a public demand.” (Qisas in Islamic Penal Law is taking the life of killers)

Buhassan recently questioned the government, represented by Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, about the reason behind not enforcing death penalties in Bahrain.

However, the Minister’s reply wasn’t revealed as he requested to answer verbally during the weekly Parliament meeting. Once again, the Minister’s reply has been postponed for a week, as he asked to be excused for not attending the meeting for a second week in a row.

Buhassan alleged that the Minister’s consecutive absence was an attempt to parry his queries.

When asked if the government is not enforcing death sentences to please foreign human rights watchdogs, Buhassan said, “Why shall we worry about international rights organisations say?  We should actually be concerned about how to eliminate terrorism. Terrorist acts are destroying our country and we should take necessary measures to eradicate it.”

The MP’s opinion has drummed up support from fellow legislators and other citizens.