Manama: A Bahraini court on Thursday sentenced a defendant to life in prison and 23 others to 15 years over their links to Daesh.
Public Prosecutor Ahmad Al Hammadi said that the High Criminal Court revoked the Bahraini citizenship from 13 of the defendants.
Investigations revealed that the first defendant recruited the second and third defendants to the terrorist group. He eased the travel of the second suspect to Syria where he was trained.
The two defendants were able to recruit more people to the group who left Bahrain to take part in combat situations.
The defendants used social media to incite members of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) and the Public Security to rebel against military orders and give up their careers in order to join Daesh, the Public Prosecutor said.
Further investigations revealed that members of the cell who were staying in Bahrain were encouraged to carry out terrorist attacks, including suicides inside places of worship, in acts similar to the ones carried out by the terror group in neighbouring countries.
Al Hammadi said that eight of the defendants were arrested and referred to the Public Prosecutor who questioned and remanded them in custody ahead of their trial.
Bahraini authorities have been heavily involved in tackling the phenomenon of terrorism and have warned that there would be a zero-tolerance policy towards any acts of terror.
