Court issues multiple rulings in terror case

Manama, Feb. 19 (BNA): Chief of Terror Crime Prosecution, Advocate General, Dr. Ahmed Al Hammadi, said the Fourth High Criminal Court today issued several rulings against 17 defendants charged with the use of weapon, inciting to use them, possession of explosive devices, firearms and ammunition without a permit for a terrorist purpose, concealing convicts, illegally entering and exiting the Kingdom of Bahrain. Al Hamadi said the court sentenced six defendants to life imprisonment, another six defendants to ten years in prison, one defendant to five years in prison, three defendants to three years in prison. The court also imposed fines of BD500 on twelve defendants, stripping away citizenship from three defendants, acquitting one defendant and the confiscation of seized items. The Criminal Investigation’s investigation revealed that the seventh defendant had fled to Iran with the help of the First, second and third defendants, who also assisted in harboring the fourth and seventh defendants until the fourth defendant managed to return to Bahrain where he is still hiding. The second, ninth and eleventh defendants are siblings, where the latter is a fugitive in Iran. The ninth defendant has trained his brother the second defendant on the manufacturing explosive devices inside Bahrain to deliver them to terrorists for executing terrorist acts against security patrols. The second and eleventh defendants had taken several deliveries of explosive devices and firearms that had been smuggled into the country by the ninth defendant to pass to other terrorists. The second and ninth defendants had coordinated to travel to Iraq in 2015 to be engaged in a military training on the preparation of warehouses for storing weapons and explosive devices, manufacture of explosive devices and use of firearms. The second defendant, following the completion of the military training, travelled to Iran in 2015 to meet his brother, the ninth defendant, along with other Bahraini fugitives there. The second defendant had met the fourteenth defendant who tasked him with the preparation of warehouses in Bahrain for storing weapons and explosives, which would be smuggled into Bahrain in addition to other explosives to be manufactured in Bahrain later. The third defendant together with the first and second defendants had harboured the fourth and seventh defendants. They also worked together on facilitating the escape of the seventh defendant to Iran, where the fourth and seventh defendants had smuggled weapons and explosives into Bahrain by a boat from Iran to deliver to terrorists in Bahrain. The fourth and seventh defendants had managed to smuggle weapons and explosives using the Nabih Saleh Beach and delivered the smuggled items to other terrorists. As they were waiting for other group of terrorist to deliver the rest of the smuggled shipment, they noticed presence of a security patrol at the time, they decided to transport the smuggled shipment to the third defendant, according to directives of the fourteenth defendant, who in cooperation with first and second defendants concealed it and facilitated the escape of the seventh defendant to Iran. A number of defendants were arrested and search operations continue to bring the rest of the terrorists to justice. The Prosecution presented witness testimonies, defendant confessions, technical evidences and referred the defendants to the High Criminal Court which deliberated the case during its sessions in the presence of defence attorneys who submitted their arguments.