Bahrain court jails members of terror group

Manama: Chief of Terror Crimes Prosecution, Advocate General Ahmed Al-Hammadi today said that the High Criminal Court sentenced 10 defendants to life and two others to 10 years in prison.

The defendants were charged with the formation of an illegal terrorist group "Saraya Al-Ashter", steering and joining it, poseessing and detonating explosions, training on the use of weapons and explosives, attempting to kill police officers and attacking them for terrorist purposes, rallying and rioting, possessing inflammable material and damaging private properties.

The court ordered the revocation of citizenship of 12 defendants, and imposed a BD200,000 fine on the first and second defendants for the charges leveled against them.

It also ordered the first, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and twelfth defendants to pay together BD 10,938.700 to the Ministry of Interior for the damage they caused to police vehicles.

The charges against two other defendants were dropped.

The details of the case date January 6, 2015 as the General Prosecution received a communication from the General Directorate of Criminal Investigations and Forensic Evidence on the arrest of a terrorist group of 14 defendants.

The investigation of the General Directorate of Criminal Investigations and Forensic Evidence indicated that the first and second defendants, who were in Iran, had recruited a number of individuals to carry out terrorist attacks under Saraya Al-Ashter Organisation.

The third and fourth defendants were among the recruits, who communicated with other fugitive defendants to provide them with explosives and funds needed for the operations.

The two defendants managed to recruit the rest of the group. The first and second defendants also facilitated the travel of the third, fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth defendants to Iraq where they were engaged in military training on making and using explosives and weapons with the intention of attacking policemen and undermining Bahrain's security.

The group executed several terrorist operations between 2013 and 2015, including detonating bombs in Sanabus, Al-Daih, Budayia, Shakhoora, Muqsha, Diraz, Hamad Town, and a commercial mall, causing casualties among policemen and damages to two police patrols, civilian cars, as well as to the commercial mall.

Ten defendants were arrested and referred to the Public Prosecution where they were questioned in the presence of their lawyers. They admitted to the charges levelled against them, but one defendant denied them.

The Public Prosecution relied in substantiating the charges on testimonies from evidence witnesses, the confessions of the suspects and forensic reports.

It referred 10 defendants to the Fourth High Criminal Court and ordered to issue arrest warrants against the defendants still at large.

The case was deliberated at the court in the presence of the defence lawyers. The defendants were provided with all legal guarantees.