Bahrain court rejects appeal by three men charged with planting explosives at ATMs

TDT | Manama  

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A Bahraini court upheld the jail terms handed down to three men charged with planting explosives, obtained from Iran, at ATMs of a national bank in the kingdom with the help of a terrorist organisation.

The ruling of the Court of Cassation confirmed 15-year jail terms awarded to two of the defendants and a ten-year jail term for the third man.

Court files say the men, who are members of a terrorist cell affiliated with the Al Ashtar Brigades, made a failed attempt to detonate bombs planted in two ATMs in Al-Naim and Jidhafs.

The trio are also among 13 others slapped with jail terms ranging between 3 years and life terms. Among them is a fugitive terrorist in Iran, who, investigators found, was the brain of the terrorist organisation formed to organise terror attacks in the Kingdom.

Interior Ministry thwarted the bomb attacks inside the ATMs of two national banks in Al Naim and Jidhafs in the capital governorate earlier this year.

Investigators charged 14 members of the terrorist organisation in the case, including four fugitives. Reports said the terrorist cell was under the supervision of the leader of the Al Ashtar Brigades in Iran.

He recruited members both from Iraq and Iran in 2019, and they, in turn, found other operatives for targeting public and security installations in Bahrain. The members received training for handling explosive devices and financial support from abroad.

One of the defendants rented a stable to function as a storehouse for explosives, which doubled up as headquarters to meet and train members. One of them also bought a boat to expand the radius of their equipment and receive money by sea.

The defendants in Bahrain received instructions from leaders in Iran to target ATMs of a national bank for which they formed two teams. The first team, disguised in women’s attires, placed a bag containing an explosive next to an ATM in the Al Naim area, while the second team placed another bag next to an ATM in Jidhafs.

The defendants, during interrogation, confessed to their crimes and admitted to receiving training in handling encrypted devices and phones, manufacturing and installing explosive devices and attaching them to detonators.

They also confessed to receiving money via “dead mail” and transferring it to the families of convicted and fugitive terrorist members. Furthermore, they also admitted to communicating with fugitive terrorist leaders outside Bahrain by travelling to both Iraq and Iran for assignments.