Military man’s jail term upheld

A military personnel, who forced individuals illegally living in the Kingdom to pay him in return for alleged protection, got his imprisonment sentence upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeals yesterday.

The Bahraini man is part of a four-member gang that was previously sentenced to imprisonment in 2015 for kidnapping a man and unlawfully asking him to pay an amount of BD1,400 to allegedly protect him and allow him stay in the country, as the victim was an illegal worker here.

According to court files, the defendants, a Bahraini and three Asian nationals, targeted illegal workers, commonly known as “free visa workers”, alleging that they wouldn’t arrest them and offer them protection if they paid certain amounts. They kidnapped the victim, locked and assaulted him and forced him sign blank documents, after demanding him to pay BD2,000 that was later reduced to BD1,400.

 They claimed that they would not report him to the authorities and assist him if he got involved in any case, in return for the amount they asked him for. After signing the documents, the victim was released and he immediately informed the police.

A secret plan was set and the defendants agreed to meet with the victim at a certain place, where the police took them by surprise and arrested them. The Fifth High Criminal Court sentenced the Bahraini defendant to five years of imprisonment, while three Asian men were sentenced to two years of imprisonment, to pay BD200 fines each and to be deported and not enter the Kingdom for three years.

However, the Bahraini defendant pleaded not guilty and claimed that the signed document was an agreement between him and the victim to smuggle gold bars from Bahrain to India, but the appeals court yesterday rejected his appeal and ordered to uphold the previous sentence.