Death sentence in 2016 bombing case upheld

Manama : The Court of Cassation yesterday upheld the verdict in the 2016 bombing case in which a woman was killed. 

The High Criminal Court, on June 19, 2016, had sentenced the first defendant to death, the second defendant to life in jail while seven others were sentenced to three years in jail, according to a statement by the chief of terror crime prosecution.

The nationality of the first and second defendants was revoked, obliging them to pay financial compensation for the damage. 

The court had also fined the third defendant and ordered the confiscation of all seized materials. 

The incident related to a 2016 bombing incident in which a woman was killed and her three children wounded. The woman was driving on Shaikh Jabir Al Ahmad Highway when the bomb went off.

The accused were charged with deliberate murder by detonating an explosive device.  They were also charged with the illegal possession of explosives and weapons, endangering the public and private transportation, receiving training on the use of weapons and explosives, committing terror crime with other accomplices, harbouring wanted terrorist and inflicting material damage in the implementation of terrorist purposes.

On November 22, 2017, the Court of Appeal issued its sentence in the case by accepting the appeal of eight defendants in form, but rejected it in substance and upheld the sentences.

The prosecution investigations unravelled that a suspect who was residing in Iran and worked for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps tasked the defendants to implement the terror crime by detonating the bomb targeting policemen. 

He provided the first and second defendants with the explosive device for this purpose. 

The police movement was monitored and the explosive device was placed at the crime scene to carry out the terror plot.

The accused detonated the bomb which killed the victim and wounded her accompanying children. The first accused escaped from the crime scene following the terrorist crime and he was sheltered in a hideout by some of the defendants. 

The accused were apprehended in accordance with legally-prescribed procedures and referred to the prosecution. Ten accused including eight in custody were referred to the High Criminal Court. An arrest warrant was issued against the fugitive suspect.

The case was deliberated by the court which listened to defence arguments and pleas and statements of the prosecution that insisted on the maximum penalty against the defendants.