Bahrain responds to UN Special Rapporteur’ allegations

Manama: July 29 (BNA): In response to the statement issued by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, as well as to allegations on implementing the death penalty on three individuals convicted of murder, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain underlines that the death penalty followed the final court judgment confirming their convictions for the crimes of murder and other offences. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stresses that the case was heard at all three tiers of the judicial system, in trials in which all standards of justice and guarantees of due process were fully upheld. The Court of Cassation unanimously approved the death penalty, after reviewing all the evidence proving the defendants had committed the offences of which they were charged, and confirming the validity of the judgments against them. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates the Kingdom of Bahrain’s commitment to international instruments signed in accordance with the provisions set out in the Constitution and the law and ensuring all guarantees of fair trial and due process. It should also be noted that the death penalty was in two separate cases: one involving the shooting dead of an off-duty police officer in front of his farm in Bilad Al Qadeem, and the shooting dead of a policemen at Jau Prison during a prison break during which a number of inmates escaped; the second involving the stabbing to death of a mosque imam and the mutilation of his body.