Dubai: Bahrain has detained two men on charges of spying for a foreign country to harm the kingdom’s national interests.
The pair were also charged with receiving money illegally and not reporting the large amounts of cash they had with them to customs officers when they entered Bahrain.
Attorney General Ahmad Al Hammadi on Wednesday said that the public prosecution opened an investigation after it was informed by the criminal department that two Bahrainis obtained money from a Qatari national, Abdullah Bin Khalid Al Thani, a former minister, that was either deposited in their bank accounts or given to them in person in Qatar.
One of the suspects was given money to help him run in the parliamentary elections on November 24 and finance his electoral campaign.
The prosecution said the money was intended to harm Bahrain, interfere in its domestic affairs and influence the work of constitutional institutions through membership in the Council of Representatives, the lower chamber of the bicameral parliament, and serving Qatar’s anti-Bahrain objectives.
A warrant was issued to record the suspects’ phone conversations and the authorities obtained the evidence supporting the conclusions of the investigation about the men’s implication, Al Hammadi said.
The two suspects were arrested at Bahrain International Airport upon their return from Qatar carrying BD12,000 and QR500 which they failed to declare to the customs.
They were remanded in custody pending further investigation.
