Manama: A Bahraini court has adjourned the trial of 25 ‘terror’ suspects to November 11, pending further reports.
The trial has received special attention for the number of the suspects and for coinciding with the third parliamentary and municipal elections held in Bahrain since King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa launched a series of reforms in assumed power in 1999. Bahrainis voted on October 23 and will cast ballots in nine undecided constituencies on Saturday.
Ten suspects, including the alleged network leaders, faced charges of forming a group to stall the implementation of the constitution and laws, hindering public authorities from carrying out their duties, attacking personal freedoms and public and private rights, undermining national unity through the use of terror, funding terror activities to create and foment chaos through rioting, sabotage and arson, and resisting the authorities in order to undermine security, public order and stability.
Suspects in this group were also accused of disseminating false and malicious information and anti-Bahrain rumours abroad and through the Internet.
The other 15 suspects were charged of joining the illegal group and of carrying out its plot, using force and violence with public employees, using violence against the police and endangering people’s lives and property by starting fires.
All suspects at the court rejected the charges and their lawyers called for new investigations.
The trial was held under high security amid concerns of riots, particularly after calls by a small opposition group to protest by starting fires and sending plumes of smoke.
The alleged network was revealed to the media in August when the National Security Agency named the suspects and their perceived role in the clandestine organization.
Abdul Jalil Al Singace, the 48-year-old spokesman for Haq, a small group that splintered from Al Wefaq in 2005 after it agreed to participate in elections, was the first to be arrested on August 13.
Later, 22 people were detained and all were subsequently charged, including two more suspects, Saeed Al Shihabi, 56, and Hassan Mushaima, 62, who live in London.
International rights groups initially called for their release, then said that they should be given a fair trial. A three-member team from Amnesty International said that it would attend the opening of the trial.
Bahraini authorities responded by insisting that the suspects’ rights were and would be upheld at all stages of the investigation and trial.