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Bahrain court sentences 139 to jail in mass terror trial
Source: The Guardian
Bahrain court sentences 139 to jail in mass terror trial
Defendants were accused of trying to build a ‘Bahraini Hezbollah’
Bethan McKernan Middle East correspondent
Tue 16 Apr 2019 14.38 BST Last modified on Tue 16 Apr 2019 16.27 BST
A court in Bahrain has handed down prison sentences to 139 people, including 69 life sentences, for terrorism offences after one of the biggest mass trials in the country’s history.
All but one also had their citizenship revoked, the public prosecutor, Ahmad al-Hammadi, said in a statement on Tuesday. Local news outlets said the defendants were accused of building a cell called “Bahraini Hezbollah”, similar to the Lebanese armed group funded by Iran, in order to sow discord in the Gulf kingdom.
Some had trained in Iran, Lebanon and Iraq, “at the behest of Iranian regime leaders who ordered the Iranian Revolutionary Guard elements to unify the Bahrain-based terrorist elements to carry out their plots and acts of terrorism against Bahrain,” Hammadi said.
Those tried were found guilty of training with and using illegal weapons and explosives, detonating bombs and attempted murder, and other sentences handed down ranged from between three and 10 years.
-snip-
Defendants were accused of trying to build a ‘Bahraini Hezbollah’
Bethan McKernan Middle East correspondent
Tue 16 Apr 2019 14.38 BST Last modified on Tue 16 Apr 2019 16.27 BST
A court in Bahrain has handed down prison sentences to 139 people, including 69 life sentences, for terrorism offences after one of the biggest mass trials in the country’s history.
All but one also had their citizenship revoked, the public prosecutor, Ahmad al-Hammadi, said in a statement on Tuesday. Local news outlets said the defendants were accused of building a cell called “Bahraini Hezbollah”, similar to the Lebanese armed group funded by Iran, in order to sow discord in the Gulf kingdom.
Some had trained in Iran, Lebanon and Iraq, “at the behest of Iranian regime leaders who ordered the Iranian Revolutionary Guard elements to unify the Bahrain-based terrorist elements to carry out their plots and acts of terrorism against Bahrain,” Hammadi said.
Those tried were found guilty of training with and using illegal weapons and explosives, detonating bombs and attempted murder, and other sentences handed down ranged from between three and 10 years.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/16/bahrain-court-jails-139-after-terrorism-trial