Five defendants sentenced to life in jail

Manama, May 26 (BNA): Chief of Terror Crimes Prosecution, Advocate General Ahmed Al Hammadi, today said that the High Criminal Court sentenced five defendants to life in jail for carrying out an explosion, possessing and acquiring explosives without a license, and damaging public property for terrorist purposes. The court also fined them BD 250, the value of the damage the blast had caused, and ordered the confiscation of the seized items. Case documents indicate that on August 14 as the public security personnel were clearing the road in Ma'ameer, and an Interior Ministry's bulldozer was removing the iron and wooden barriers, an Improvised Explosive Device, planted inside the barriers, exploded and damaged the vehicle. The Criminal Investigation Directorate conducted intensive investigations and found that the suspects had acquired and possessed a home-made explosive device to detonate on the so-called "14 August Rebellion". They planted the explosive device between barriers and waste and detonated it as soon as the security personnel got near it. The blast damaged the Interior Ministry's bulldozer. Through the blast, the suspects intended to kill the policemen and inflict maximum damage and spread panic among the citizens, the court documents showed. A number of defendants were arrested in accordance with the legal procedures and were referred to the Public Prosecution, the Advocate General said. The findings of the investigations were presented to the court by the Public Prosecution, and included witness testimonies and detailed forensic evidence, Al-Hammadi added The suspects were referred to the High Criminal Court, where they stood trial in the presence of their defence lawyers, he added. The Advocate General confirmed that the defendants had been afforded full legal rights throughout the trial, including the rights to appeal the court ruling at the Court of Appeals, and challenge the ruling of the Court of Appeals at the Court of Cassation, as guaranteed by Bahraini law.