Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's High Criminal Court, presided over by Judge Wajih Al-Shaer with the memberships of judges Ahmad Hassan and Ayman Muhran and Yusuf Bou Hardan as secretariat, convicted on Tuesday (May 3, 2016) in absentia the son of former Prime Minister Khalifa Al-Dhahrani who is charged with having possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking and abuse as well as having possession of a firearm. The court sentenced him to a year in prison with a 1,000 BD fine over the first charge and five more years and a 500 BD fine over the second charge.

According to the case file, the son of Khalifa Al-Dhahrani is 30 years old. He is a cannabis user and unemployed. He also has been charged in 64 other cases, yet the authorities released him on bail.

The court sentenced the other suspect in the case to one year in prison, fining him 1,000 BD and ordered the confiscation of the seized items.

The Public Prosecution said that the first suspect (Al-Dhahrani) (on December 21, 2015) acquired a firearm without a license from the Ministry of Interior and that the first and second suspects acquired narcotics aiming at using them.

It is noteworthy that Al-Dhahrani's family is one of the powerful families in the country. Khalifa Al-Dhahrani headed the Parliament from 2002 until 2014 for 3 consecutive terms. His son Ali Al-Dhahrani is a judge in the high criminal court; who has issued harsh sentences against activists and dissidents reaching up to life-imprisonment and revoked citizenships. He also headed the court in the trial of the opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman who is serving a 4-year jail term.

Arabic Version