Bahrain jails policemen for dealing in drugs

Manama: A Bahraini court has convicted a young policeman of dealing in drugs and sentenced him to five years in prison and a fine of 5,000 dinars, local newspaper Al Bilad reported on Saturday.

The Major Criminal Court also convicted two foreign girlfriends of the prime defendant in the same case.

One of them was given a one-year jail term and ordered to pay a fine of 1,000 dinars. The second was sentenced to six months in jail and a fine of 100 dinars. Both will be deported after serving their respective sentences.

The rulings can be appealed.

The case dates back to last May when the policeman and the two women were arrested in his house in the possession of drugs.

The prime defendant told the court he had bought the illegal substances with the help of a man living outside Bahrain, but he denied trading in them.

The convicted policeman and one of the two women were found guilty in a previous drug-taking case, according to the paper.