Forming IS Bahrain cell : Verdict on June 23

Manama : The High Criminal Court announced yesterday it would deliver the verdict on June 23, in the case of 24 defendants accused of joining Islamic State (IS).

During the hearing yesterday, father of one of the defendants said in his testimony that his son wasn’t involved with the items seized from his (the father’s) house. He was apparently referring to some confiscated items linked to IS. The father said the items belonged to another son who is living abroad.

Twenty-four Bahraini suspects are being tried in connection with this case.  Aged between 16 and 42, the defendants have been charged in October last year with forming a cell of the IS group, plotting suicide attacks and recruiting fighters for the jihadist organisation. 

However, 16 of the suspects are still at large and are being tried in absentia. Among the suspects is IS ideological lodestar Turki Al Binali and three of his brothers (the second and third defendant). 

The defendants have allegedly been plotting to carry out a suicide bombing in a local mosque. 

The mastermind of the cell was Turki, who is believed to have recruited dozens of Bahraini youths and sent them to frontlines outside the country. 

The second defendant reportedly travelled to Syria, where he received military training and took part in hostilities before returning back to the Kingdom. 

He, along with the third defendant, were assigned later by Turki to encourage more young Bahrainis to join IS.  

The fourteenth defendant allegedly requested the fifth defendant to carry out a terrorist attack in Bahrain because there wasn’t sufficient money to help him travel to Syria. 

They reportedly targeted the A’ali Grand Mosque in a bid to kill a number of worshipers. 

Turki has been charged with establishing a branch for a terrorist organisation. 

The other defendants have been indicted with joining a terrorist organisation, receiving militia training, using arms, possessing weapons and explosives, participating in terrorist operations and planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Bahrain. 

Bahrain had announced on October 21, charging of 24 people with forming a cell of IS, plotting suicide attacks and recruiting fighters for the jihadist organisation. 

The move came followng investigations into the formation of a “branch for a terrorist group... the so-called Daesh,” said a prosecution statement, using the Arabic acronym for IS.