Bahrain Mirror: The Fourth Criminal High Court in Bahrain began the trial of 10 defendants, accused of forming a group called the Secret Intelligence Agency for the Bahraini Revolution, abbreviated with SIA.

According to the authorities, the group's mission is to "abduct and torture those suspected of collaborating with the police."

The Court decided to adjourn the case to April 9 for further review, issued a copy of the case files and ordered bringing the second and seventh defendants from their places of detention.

Human rights groups have been challenging the accusations against the defendants, due to doubts cast upon the independence of the Bahraini judiciary, whose members are appointed by royal decrees, as well as the verdicts, which are often based on confessions extracted under torture, evidence obtained from secret investigations and anonymous witnesses.

Arabic Version