Bahrain: 16, Including Minors, Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison in Unfair Trial
6:20 AM
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The Bahrain Center for Human Rights expresses grave concern over the detention and sentencing of 16 Bahraini citizens to 15 years imprisonment without clear evidence of the charges brought against them. The authorities in Bahrain have been arbitrarily arresting, detaining and sentencing citizens from protest areas in sham trials.
The Ministry of Interior claims that in July 2012 a police patrol was attacked in an attempt to kill policemen. A MOI vehicle was burned and no causalities or injuries were announced by the ministry. The event was followed by an arrest campaign in a nearby village and many were taken into custody.
On 21 March 2013, the higher criminal court sentenced 16, some of them minors, to 15 years' imprisonment and BD10,508 fine after charging them with attempted murder of policemen while on duty, arson of a vehicle owned by the MOI, illegal gathering and possession of Molotov cocktails.
The BCHR documentation and monitoring team met with some of the families of the 16 sentenced to document their cases:
