Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's Third Minor Criminal Court, presided over by judge Jaber Al-Jazzar and Hussein Hamaad as secretariat, handed down a 3-year prison term to 24 defendants, over charges of blocking and spilling oil on road during assembly.

The Public Prosecution accused the protesters of assembling and acquiring Molotov cocktails, putting vehicles at risk. The report filed claimed that the protestors blocked and poured oil on a road and then waited for the arrival of a security patrol. Once the patrol arrived, around 500 people assembled and began to hurl stones and Molotov cocktails at the patrol vehicle. The patrol forces stepped out of the vehicle and used tear gas and shotgun pellets to disperse the protestors.

The authorities allege that they were able to reach the suspects through investigations, claiming that every one of them confessed, mentioning the names of other suspects.

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 Version