Bahrain Mirror: The Bahraini Supreme Court of Appeals upheld a court of first instance's verdict against 3 appellants over charges of setting fire to an ATM in Hamad Town.

Bahrain's High Criminal Court sentenced 6 suspects accused of setting fire to a Bank ATM located in Bahrain's Hamad Town to 15 years in prison and fined them 18,770 BD for the damages caused to the ATM.

The Public Prosecution claimed that the suspects (on October 3, 2014), along with other unknown suspects, deliberately set fire to an ATM, endangering people's lives and properties and acquired Molotov cocktails, aiming at using them to put people's lives and properties at risk. The court; however, charged the first, second, third and fifth suspects with setting fire to ATM and acquiring Molotov cocktails while charging the fourth and sixth suspects with involvement in the crime.

Human rights organizations challenge the charges raised against the defendants, since they doubt the independence of the judiciary, whose members are assigned by royal decrees, and since it issues sentences based on confessions extracted under duress and evidence presented by secret investigations and anonymous witnesses.

Arabic Version