Manama: Bahrain’s Attorney General said that 115 people have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from three years to life. The High Criminal Court also ordered the revocation of their citizenship, Hamad Shaheen said.
The terror mass trial included 138 suspects referred to the court on charges that included forming an illegal terror group, Dhul Fiqar Brigade, causing multiple explosions, possessing explosives, training in the use of weapons and explosives, attempted murder of police officers, intelligence sharing with a foreign country and its proxies to carry out antagonistic acts in Bahrain, illegal rioting and destroying public property.
The court sentenced 53 defendants to life in prison, three to 15 years, one to 10 years, 15 to seven years, 37 to five years and six to three years. It acquitted 23. According to the case documents, the defendants formed the Dhul Fiqar Brigades in November 2015 after leaders of smaller groups agreed to merge under a larger umbrella.
The leaders, including convicts who were fugitives moving between Iraq and Iran and received full support from Iranian leaders and elements of the Revolutionary Guard, wanted to streamline their activities in Bahrain through integration into one major brigade.
The documents said the purpose of working under the banner of the larger terrorist organisation was to confront the numerical shortage of qualified and trained elements, and shortage of explosive devices and materials as well as weapons and sabotage tools needed to carry out their terrorist plots.
The leaders were able to form a paramilitary group in the kingdom and carry out several acts of terror after they benefited from training in camps in Iran and Iraq under the direction of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Security authorities in Bahrain were able to arrest 86 suspects and refer them to the public prosecution where they were questioned, the Attorney general said, adding that 80 admitted to the charges levelled against them.
