Spying case put off to March 22

Manama : The High Criminal Court yesterday postponed the trial of Ali Salman Ali Ahmed, Hassan Ali Juma Sultan and Ali Mahdi Ali Al Aswad, who are accused of spying for Qatar, to March 22.

Advocate General Ousama Al Oufi said that the court decided to postpone the trial to allow the defence to present evidence.

The accused are facing charges of spying for a foreign country to carry out hostile acts in Bahrain to undermine its political and economic status and harm its national interests to topple the regime. 

Other charges included divulging defence secrets to a foreign country, accepting money from a foreign country for providing it with military secrets and information pertaining to the internal situation to undermine the economic interests of the Kingdom.

The open trial was held as stipulated by the law and the first accused Ali Salman attended alongside his lawyers. The second and third accused are being tried in absentia.

The court heard the testimony of the public prosecutor in which he said that the accused violated the noblest values and most sacred principles by targeting the nation.

“No act is more despicable than selling the nation for the sake of a fake leadership,” the Public Prosecution said.

“When traitors are called by their own country and leaders, they reject the call, but when they are called by the forces of evil, they respond. Such forces give traitors the illusion they are leaders, welcome them ceremoniously and encourage their treason. However, deep inside, the evil forces are mocking them for they see them only as servants and tools to carry out their destructive plans. Once their role is over and they are of no use, they are dismissed. They end up lost, stranded and bound to the garbage heap of history,” the Public Prosecution said.

In its statement, the Public Prosecution reviewed all the evidence against the accused and which consisted of testimonies by witnesses, the recorded conversations between the accused and officials in Qatar, security reports that confirmed the defence secret details provided by the accused to Qatar and records of statements by the accused to Al Jazeera, the Qatari television channel that was the source of their propaganda.

The Public Prosecution insisted all the evidence was solid and fully supported the charges condemning the accused. 

The Public Prosecution refuted the claims by the first accused that his acts were within the legal political framework, saying that there is a difference between permissible national political action and the acts of espionage and treachery committed by the accused and his companions that warrant their punishment.

The Public Prosecution also stressed the convergence of the accused in the exploitation of Al Jazeera not only as a propaganda trumpet inciting to acts of sedition and vandalism and glorifying the perpetrators, but also as the main guide to saboteurs, disseminating calls for chaotic rallies and providing information about venues and timings for acts of sabotage and arson. The channel also provided information about the movements of the security forces to be targeted and broadcasted inciting allegations and seditious rumours.

The Public Prosecution stressed that the schemes by Al Jazeera could not have been carried out without such traitors.