Manama: Bahrain’s high criminal court on Sunday sentenced 31 defendants to 15 years in prison for targeting policemen.
The court said the 31 men were guilty of the premeditated murder attempt of the policemen, setting a police patrol on fire, illegal gathering and possessing and using Molotov cocktails in Sitra, a small town south of the capital Manama.
Fourteen of the defendants remain at large.
The suspects’ lawyers last month called for their acquittal.
The interior ministry said in March that police arrested a group of people who attacked a patrol in Sitra with Molotov cocktails, wounding four officers.
Under Bahrain’s laws, the defendants can appeal the sentence with the court of appeals and at a later stage with the court of cassation.
Bahrain has been rocked by a wave of clashes between demonstrators and anti-riot police for more than two years.
A national dialogue was launched in February to help ease a political deadlock has hit an impasse and despite 15 rounds of talks, the interlocutors, representing two political alliances, the parliament and the government, have not been able to agree on an agenda.
- inputs from AFP
