Court to hear terror group case on April 23

Manama, Apr. 3 (BNA): Eighteen terror suspects, including seven who are in custody, have been referred to the High Criminal Court for a hearing on April 23. The prosecution completed its thorough investigations and referred them to the relevant court, Terror Crime Chief Prosecutor Ahmed Al Hammadi, said. The suspects were charged with the illegal setting up of a terrorist group, joining it and financing its activities, handling, making and possessing explosives, weapons and ammunition, training on the use of weapons and explosives, murdering a police officer and harbouring and assisting terror convicts to escape from prison. The suspects also monitored the movement of security forces to target them by means of weapons and explosives. The details of the incident are attributed to the formation of a terrorist group affiliated with "Saraya Al Mukhtar" terrorist organisation in order to carry out terrorist attacks inside Bahrain by targeting public security forces, assassinating policemen and planning to smuggle convicted inmates from prison. Members of the organisation got the role of transferring weapons, explosive devices, and funds for distributing to the other members of the terrorist group. They were also planned the smuggling of convicts while they were present at Salmaniya Medical Complex out of the country by boat. Beside their preparation of warehouses for the storage of weapons and explosives as the members of the organisation was divided into a number of sub-groups to work separately. The Prosecution has relied on the referral of the accused to the trial, including evidence of witnesses, technical evidence and reports of the administration of forensic evidence, as well as the confession of the accused.