Terrorism: MPs to discuss new amendments to law
With the increasing global developments of terrorism, Bahrain’s legislators will discuss this week a bunch of new amendments to the law of protecting the society from terrorism.
The amendments will include adding new categories to terror crimes and giving authorities more jurisdictions in relation to combating terrorism.
The Council of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs, National Security and Defence Committee will present a report that will be discussed within the council’s weekly meeting on Tuesday.
The committee mentioned in its report that “the amendments come to fill the existing legislative gap in regards to combatting terrorism.”
The newly introduced crimes include recruiting, inciting and assisting citizens to travel abroad so they can get involved in conflicts under the cover of “Jihad and supporting the religion.”
The committee said that these activities pose threats to citizens and expose them to legal accountability, in addition to harming the interests of the Kingdom.
Justifying the new amendments, the committee also said in its report that “the amendments come to combat the extremist ideologies the youth would adopt after returning to Bahrain,” insisting that “this could result in motivating them to carry out terrorist attacks in the country.”
The report explained that “the new adjustments of the law allow it to cope with the latest international and regional developments and current situations,” noting that the amendments will include the term of the newly formed Terror Crimes Prosecution.
“The amendments also aim to grant the concerned authorities more jurisdictions while handling terror crimes, such as detaining suspects for a period of no more than 28 days,” it was stated in the report.
The committee added that it had discussed the amendments with the related authorities including the Interior Ministry, the council’s Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee and the National Institution for Human Rights.
The amendments were approved by the committee and await the green signal from the rest of the MPs on Tuesday so that it could be referred to the government.
Photo Caption: Bahraini Islamic State Militants in Syria calling Bahrainis to join them in Jihad last year in a video
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