Bahrain Mirror: Bahraini Supreme Court of Appeals upheld a court of first instance's verdict against 12 suspects over charges of burning tires and pouring oil near Al-Nasr Club in Juffair.

A court of first instance had sentenced 10 suspects to 5 years in prison and 7 others to 3 years over setting tires ablaze and pouring oil on a street near Al-Nasr Club in Juffair, which disabled traffic and caused damages to a patrol vehicle.

The Public Prosecution claimed the suspects, on (July 23, 2013) in the Capital Governorate, along with other unknown suspects, deliberately started a fire, endangering people's lives and properties for a terrorist purpose. The prosecution also accused the suspects of taking part along with other unknown suspects in an assembly of more than 5 people, aiming at disturbing public peace and using violence to achieve the aim they gathered for, as well as acquiring Molotov cocktails, threatening transportation means and deliberately disabling traffic.

The authorities allege that their investigations led them to the 17 suspects, adding that the first, third, fifth, sixth, ninth and tenth suspects confessed that they committed the aforementioned acts.

Since 2012, riot cases that go under the demonstrations and riot section of the penal code were adapted to apply to the terrorism law, if there were "terrorist" purposes behind them, such as attempted murder of a police officer, violating the provisions of law and endangering the lives of people and their properties, within the regime's framework of harshening penalties against protestors and activists.

Arabic Version