Bahraini fugitive jailed in UK

Manama : A British court yesterday sentenced a Bahraini fugitive to 12 years of imprisonment for sexually assaulting minors. 

According to Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society’s (BHRWS) official social media pages, Qassim Al Hashemi, who’s wanted to serve 15 years jail term in Bahrain in terrorism related cases, was previously stripped of his Bahraini citizenship. 

Al Hashemi had repeatedly attacked Bahrain and other GCC countries through hostile media platforms. He is a member of the dissolved Bahrain Human Rights Centre, headed by Nabeel Rajab, who’s now in custody for security related cases. 

The alleged paedophile has been reportedly offered asylum in the UK. He was also accused of coordinating with leaders of armed sectarian militias in Iraq to mastermind terror attacks in Bahrain and destabilise other GCC countries.

According to BHRWS, Al Hashemi’s involvement in planning the smuggling of weapons and explosives into the Kingdom, arranging the training of misled Bahrainis in military camps in Iraq and Iran, and receiving funds from these countries to organise anti-Bahrain campaigns in Europe has been proven in several reports issued during the past few years.

His allegiance to the Iranian regime was exposed in a picture of him kissing on the head of the former and controversial Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Al Hashemi is reportedly detained at Warmwood Prison in the UK. The recent sentence came after seven days of studying by the British juries in the case of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the period between June and November last year.