The Bahrain National Safety Court of Appeals has upheld sentences imposed earlier on twenty-one defendants, who were found guilty of plotting to overthrow the leadership of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the unrest earlier this year.
Eight of the defendants have been sentenced to life imprisonment, ten to fifteen years in prison, two for five years and one for two years. Seven of the twenty-one defendants were tried in absentia.
Making the announcement on Wednesday, the Military Prosecutor, Colonel Dr Yussef Rashid Flaifel, said all the defendants can now appeal to Bahrain’s highest civilian court, the Court of Cassation, according to Decree Number 28 issued earlier this year by HM King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa.
The defendants were found guilty of crimes which included establishing and managing a terrorist group to overthrow the government and change the constitution by force, working for a foreign country in order to commit hostile acts against the Kingdom of Bahrain, collecting and giving money to terrorists, and the incitement of hatred.
Wednesday’s hearing was attended by representatives of human rights associations, journalists, and family members of defendants and victims of this year’s unrest.
Among the defendants are senior opposition figures who have been pardoned in the past for attempting to overthrow the Bahrain Government.
“These defendants have been found guilty of very serious crimes, and they have not been sentenced as prisoners of conscience or for their participation in peaceful protests. The due process of law has been applied, and they can now appeal to the highest civilian court in the country,” IAA in a statement said.
Issues raised about the unrest earlier this year and subsequent legal proceedings are part of the mandate of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) set up earlier this year by HM King Hamad. The BICI, which is wholly independent from the Bahrain Government, is due to publish its report at the end of October.