Manama: The High Criminal Court on Monday sentenced seven Bahraini men to life in prison and acquitted three in the murder case of a Pakistani man last year.
The 10 defendants were initially charged with causing the death of Shaikh Mohammad Riadh in March 2009 after they planned an attack on a police patrol in Maameer, a village south of the capital of Manama, where protesters were clashing with anti-riot police.
The verdict sparked dramatic scenes in the courtroom among the relatives and friends of the accused seven and lead to an angry reaction by the lawyers who said that there had been conflicting testimonies.
According to the court documents, the rioters had hurled a Molotov cocktail at the car driven by Riadh, who was on his way home from work.
A spokesperson from the Ministry of Health said, following the incident, that the driver sustained third degree burns on his upper body and died from respiratory complications.
Police later arrested the alleged killers. Attempts to reach an out-of-court settlement failed after the victim’s family rejected the deal brokered by members of a political group.
Riadh who worked with Unicorp for the past 15 years came from Jehlum district in Pakistan’s Punjab province. He left behind a wife, three sons and two daughters.
The arrest and detention of the defendants split Bahrain’s society between those who said that it was a politically motivated attack and claimed that the suspects were innocent and those who called for stringent action against them for killing a man and terrorising the public.
Al Wefaq, the largest society and parliamentary bloc, called for their release while Al Asala, the second largest parliamentary bloc, said that they should be executed.
The case became further mired in controversy following confusion over whether the suspects were among the dozens of people pardoned by King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa to promote civil peace. The authorities however at a later stage said that they were not covered by the amnesty.
Riadh was the second Pakistani to be killed in many years in security-related attacks in and around villages in the area.
Sporadic unrest has hit several villages after the authorities detained several men in relation to the discovery of a plot to stage terror attacks as Bahrain celebrated its National Day.
