Bahrain Mirror: The Bahraini Supreme Court of Appeals upheld a court of first instance's verdict against 5 suspects over abducting a citizen claiming he is a spy. The court sentenced the suspects to 7 years in prison and the fourth suspect to one year in prison over stealing the phones of the victim.

The authorities claim that they received a report from the victim's brother stating that a group of citizens physically assaulted his brother in A'ali and he was transferred to the hospital as a result. The victim told the police that about 7 people attacked him, took him from his friend's car and masked his face after they electrocuted him and then took him to an unknown location where they beat him.

The authorities claim that they managed to reach the five suspects through investigations. The first suspect confessed that they knew through the fourth suspect that the victim is a "spy" for the Ministry of Interior and that several wanted people in A'ali were arrested because of him. Thus, the suspects agreed to deal with the victim; they took him to a farm and then to one of the mosques where they videotaped him. The first suspect noted that the fourth suspect was the one questioning the victim. After they finished their mission, the suspects returned the victim to his home.

The Public Prosecution charged the suspects of abducting the victim using force and illegally detaining him after they forcibly made him ride a vehicle they were driving, as well as assaulting the bodily integrity of the victim, causing the injuries documented in the medical report which disabled the victim for over 20 days. The prosecution also accused the fourth suspect of stealing  the victim's phones.

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