Terror cell case: High Court awards capital punishments

The High Criminal Court yesterday awarded death penalty to two convicts and ordered life imprisonment to another for deliberate murder and assassination attempts on police personnel and civilians. Death penalties were given to the second and third suspects along with a fine of BD500 each, while the first defendant received a life term and BD500 fine. The fourth defendant received a 10-year jail sentence and the fifth defendant 7 years, Chief of Terror Crime Prosecution, Advocate General Ahmed Al Hammadi said. The court also ordered the first, second and third defendants to pay for the damages and also revoked the citizenship of all suspects.

The suspects were charged and convicted for their establishment, joining and running a terrorist group, the detonation of explosive devices, handling, possession and training to use weapons, deliberate murder and attempted assassination of police personnel and civilians, as well as the destruction of private and public properties. The perpetrators, according to a report filed by Public Prosecution to the court, were instrumental in committing several terrorist activities in the Kingdom.

They attacked policemen by planting explosive devices in places where the security personnel and vehicles assembled or passed, the report said. The first suspect who was a fugitive at large in Iran recruited others in Bahrain to implement their terrorist plot. The second and third suspects in coordination and prearrangement with the fourth suspect, who was also a fugitive at large in Iran, received training on manufacturing and detonating explosive devices in 2011.

The first suspect asked the second suspect in early 2017 through the sister of the fifth suspect to join the terrorist group led by him to carry out terrorist attacks in Bahrain. The first suspect was able to recruit the second suspect and tasked him with the recruitment of others in Bahrain to assist and help him, including the third suspect. The first suspect also supplied them with explosive devices and explosive substances as well as weapons and monetary support to fund their criminal activity. 

Explosives were supplied by the first suspects to others through other contacts in the Kingdom. The second and third suspects et alia detonated several bomb blasts in the Kingdom after planting the explosive devices on roads where security personnel and vehicles assembled or passed. One of them monitored the device location, while the other photographed the act of detonation to send it to the first suspect.

Investigations found that the suspects detonated the explosions targeting police vehicles in various parts of Bahrain and caused injuries to a number of police personnel and civilians. The explosions also damaged private and public properties. One of these bomb blasts took the life of Policeman Salman Anjum and wounded other policemen on 27 October 2017.