Death row for inmate killers? Prosecution seeks maximum penalty

TDT | Manama     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Public Prosecution demanded that the court apply the maximum penalty, including the death penalty, for the four defendants implicated in the murder of an inmate at the Rehabilitation and Correction Center. This request was made during the closing arguments session before the verdict.

In response, the lawyer representing the first defendant argued that the defendants did not have criminal intent and that the incident between them and the victim was motivated by self-defense rather than murder.

The lawyer emphasised the role of time, stating that the entire incident lasted no more than four minutes, and asserted that it was solely an assault without any intention to cause death or take a life.

The lawyer representing the first defendant also requested a change in the charge from intentional murder to attempted manslaughter, along with a reduction in the severity of punishment and the application of maximum leniency.

On the other hand, the lawyer representing the civil claim affirmed the presence of an intention to take the victim’s life, based on the defendants’ continuous assault on the victim until his death.

The lawyer also highlighted the defendants’ criminal records and expressed support for the Public Prosecution’s request for the maximum penalty.

Four witnesses told the Court earlier that the victim had objected to receiving a small amount of juice from one of the defendants who was distributing lunch boxes to the inmates.

This prompted the first defendant and the three other defendants to hit the victim when they asked him to come towards them.

The witnesses confirmed that the defendants intended to kill the victim because of the intense beating with their hands and feet on the victim’s head and face, in addition to that one of the defendants was repeating, “Get rid of him” meaning he killed him, while another defendant was asking to wrap the victim’s neck.

They noted that the defendants did not stop beating their victim even though he fell to the ground unconscious and had blood in his nose and mouth.

They said that the fight lasted about 5 minutes. Details of the incident indicate that the Public Prosecution received a notification on October 27, 2023, from the Rehabilitation and Correction Center regarding the death of the victim due to multiple assaults.