Court acquits man accused of arson

Manama : A 23-year-old Bahraini man accused in a rioting case has been acquitted due to lack of evidence. He was tried before the High Criminal Court, which cited inconclusive evidences before acquitting the accused.

“The incident occurred in 2014 and the initial investigations could not identify the culprit. After two years, a detective blamed the defendant for committing the crime based on the report of the Criminal Investigation Laboratory,” the court ruling stated.

“However, the detective said in his report that he relied on confidential sources in his investigations despite the fact that two years have passed since the incident occurred,” it added. Terming the investigations “unserious” and inadequate to hold the accused guilty, the ruling said, “The fingerprint recovered is not enough to confirm the involvement of the accused in the case.

The man has been charged on the basis of assumptions.” The defendant was charged in connection with a riot that broke out in Samaheej. A police officer said that he saw five tyres that were set on fire surrounding a gas cylinder, which didn’t detonate thanks to police officers who put out the fire. The detective said in his report that the defendant committed the crime along with unknown men.