Bahrain Mirror: A Bahraini Supreme Appeals Court upheld a first degree verdict, sentencing 11 defendants to 15 years in prison over charges of attempted murder of a number of policemen and burning two police vehicles. Meanwhile another was sentenced to 7 years in prison and they were all fined a sum of 12,487 Bahrainis dinars.

The court claimed that it was proven that the defendants, along with other unknown suspects, committed terrorist crimes aiming at disturbing public order, endangering people's lives and public properties.

The court alleged that the suspects attempted to murder four members of security forces in a deliberate and premeditated act [...] They acquired Molotov cocktails for this purpose and gathered in groups, hurling them the Molotov cocktails at the security forces, aiming at killing the security forces members. The suspects also set to police vehicles on fire, putting people's lives and properties at risk.

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