HM King spares lives of four terrorists

Manama : His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa yesterday commuted the death sentences handed down to four defendants by the Military Cassation Court to life in prison. 

Mubarak Adel Mubarak Mohanna, Fadhil Alsayed Abbas Hasan Radhi, Alsayed Alawi Hussain Alawi Hussain, and Mohammed Abdulhassan Ahmed Al Mitghawi are the four convicts whose death sentences are commuted.

The King’s decision is as per Article 41 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain and Article 84 of the Military Judiciary Law issued by Law Decree 34/2002, Chief of Military Judiciary Dr Major-General Yousef Rashid Flaifel said. Article 41 stipulates that “the King may abate or commute a sentence by Decree.” 

The Military High Court had on Wednesday upheld the death sentence of the four men for attempting to assassinate Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, the Commander-in-Chief of Bahrain Defence Force (BDF), last year. The four men were also charged with various terror crimes, the major being the assassination attempt on BDF Commander-in-Chief. 

In the case, six defendants, including one soldier, were sentenced to death and to 15 years in jail while seven other defendants were sentenced to seven years in jail. The court had ordered the revocation of the citizenship of the 13 defendants. Five suspects were acquitted by the court in the case.

The verdicts were appealed and six defendants appeared before the High Military Court of Appeals on February 21.

The court reduced the sentence of two defendants from seven to five years but upheld all the other verdicts. These included the death sentence for four defendants and the seven-year prison terms for two defendants who were present at the trial. 

The death sentences handed down were the first to be issued by the Military Cassation Court against civilians. It was in December the six men were first sentenced to death and their citizenship revoked after they were convicted on charges of forming a terrorist cell and plotting to assassinate the BDF chief.