Cassation Court returns death penalty case to ِAppeals Court

Manama, Oct. 22 (BNA): The Court of Cassation accepted the verdict in form and turned down the appealed death penalty in substance against defendants Hussain Ali Moussa and Mohammed Ramadan Essa. It also returned the case for reconsideration by the issuing court to be constituted from another jury to issue a new ruling, Advocate General and Head of Technical Office at the Public Prosecution,Haroon Alzayani, said. The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) submitted a memorandum to the Public Prosecution regarding its investigations in both complaints lodged by Hussain Ali Moussa and Mohammed Ramadan Essa who were sentenced to death for killing a policeman and attempted murdering of several other policemen by detonating a terrorist bomb blast. The SIU in its memorandum suggested the possibility of reconsideration of the sentence against the convicts on the basis of new papers which came out in the course of its investigation and which were neither submitted to the two degrees of litigation courts nor submitted to the Cassation Court. The verdict was based on various evidences other than the evidence derived from defendants statements including technical evidences that the suspects exchanged mobile text messages indicating that they agreed and coordinated to commit the crime. Defendant Hussain Ali Moussa had been examined by forensic doctor on occasion of the case and found devoid of any injuries which would back his complaint apart from wrist bruises caused by the steel handcuffs. Defendant Mohammed Ramadan Essa had originally not confessed to committing the crime or any participation in detonating the explosion. Reliant upon the Special Investigation Unit’s memorandum, and the presentation by Acting Head of the SIU and to achieve the required justice, the Public Prosecution agreed with the memorandum and referred the matter to the Minister of Justice for initial reconsideration by the SIU and reconsideration of the said verdict according to his jurisdiction stipulated in the Court of Cassation Law. The Ministry of Justice took the initiative of studying the matter, and as a result of its conclusions after the studying and reliant upon the provision of the Cassation Court Law which permits the Minister of Justice to request a reconsideration of final penalizing verdicts issued in specific instances, he requested the Cassation Court President to reconsider the verdicts against both convicts in the light of conclusions of the Special Investigation Unit and the discovery of new papers. This came to benefit from the right assigned to the Minister of Justice to fulfill the requirements of justice that call to exhaustion of all legal means to the maximum limit in order to unveil the truth. Hence, the Court of Cassation considered the request and issued its aforesaid ruling by accepting the request and cancellation of the verdict against both convicts and ordered to return the case to the issuing court to issue a new ruling by another jury.