Manama: Bahrain's Court of Appeals on Sunday reduced the sentence of a Bangladeshi convicted of killing a Bahraini national with a grinder from life in prison to three years.
The life-term ruling issued in September 2009 was slashed after the defendant's lawyer, Fatima Al Hawwaj, argued that her client, Mohammad Babul, should be tried for manslaughter instead of premeditated murder, a charge that carries a three-year sentence.
Babul, 38, has consistently denied the first-degree murder of Mohammad Jasem Al Dossari on May 24, 2008.
According to court documents, the Bangladeshi mechanic slashed Al Dossari's neck with a metal grinder during a heated argument over 500 fils ($1.272) at a workshop in Hamad Town, 23km south west of Manama.
A medical report said that Al Dossari had a 15cm cut on the right side of his neck, a broken spinal cord and several torn muscles, ligaments and tissue. The injuries were the result of a forceful use of a grinder, doctors said.
Fatima argued that her client did not intend to kill Al Dossari who in the heat of the argument allegedly pushed Babul who was holding the grinder.
The death of Al Dossari sparked highly emotional reactions by Bahrainis who called for a complete a ban on hiring Bangladeshis allegedly on the grounds of their violent attitudes. The interior ministry three days later said that it would not renew Bangladeshis' work permits after their expiry.
The decision caused grave concerns among the 90,000 member community and was immediately rejected by human rights activists who said that it was not fair to the tens of thousands of law-abiding Bangladeshis earning a decent living in the country and that it could fuel discrimination against expatriate communities. The ban was lifted weeks later.
