Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's Fifth High Criminal Court, presided over by judge Abdullah Al-Ashraf with the memberships of judges Mohsen Mabrouk and Motaz Abu Al-Ezz and Abdullah Mohammad as secretariat, sentenced a youth (19 years old) to 10 years in prison over charges of planting a hoax bomb and starting a fire.

The defendant was already sentenced to prison terms ranging between 3 months to 10 years and to death over killing a policeman.  

The Public Prosecution accused the defendant of setting fire to properties, along with other unknown suspects, endangering people's lives, and public and private properties for a terrorist purpose, planting a hoax bomb, along with other unknown suspects, in a public place for a terrorist purpose, as well as taking part in an assembly of more than 5 people, aiming at disturbing public peace and using violence to achieve their purpose.

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