Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's Fourth High Criminal Court presided over judge Ali bin Khalifa Al-Dhahrani handed down a 5-year prison term to a suspect (24 years old) accused of burning tires and taking part in an assembly in the Al-Khamis village, and ordered confiscating the seized items.

The authorities said that the suspect along with unknown others placed a number of tires in Sheikh Salman Street in Al-Khamis village and set them on fire. They also claimed that the suspects planted a hoax bomb and then fled the scene. They alleged that they reached the suspect through "investigations".

The Public Prosecution stated that the suspect along with unknown others on January 29, 2015 set tires ablaze on a public road and thus putting people's lives and properties to danger. The prosecution also accused the suspect of participating in a gathering of more than five persons, aiming at disrupting public security for a terrorist aim. It also accused him of planting a hoax bomb in a public place for a terrorist purpose.

Since 2012, the known riot cases which are listed under the riot act have been amended to apply to the terrorism act, as new terrorist aims and pretexts have been attributed to these cases, such as the attempted murder of policemen, breaching the provisions of law and putting people's lives and properties in danger, in order to harshen the sentences issued against protestors and activists.

Arabic Issue