Prosecution Calls for Death in Treason Case

Manama: The Public Prosecution urged the court on Monday to hand down the death penalty to the defendants in a case alleging collusion with the enemy, saying the charges amount to treason against Bahrain.

Addressing the court during what it described as a procedural hearing, the prosecution said it had not yet been given the chance to make its full case or lay out the evidence it says stands against the accused. It said it wanted, from the opening stage of the trial, to make plain the scale of the acts in question, the motives said to lie behind them and the meaning of the case now before the court.

The prosecution placed the case against the backdrop of what it called an Iranian attack on Bahrain, saying the country was facing hard days in which people were living with fear and strain, while the state was using all it had to defend the country and keep order.

In those circumstances, it said, some had chosen to side with the attackers and betray Bahrain by making contact with what it described as a terrorist group engaged in violent acts, with the aim of carrying out hostile acts against the kingdom.

It also told the court that the defendants were accused of taking photographs of sites and places where photography is banned, with the aim of passing on a defence secret linked to the country.

The prosecution said the case showed that the security and sovereignty of Bahrain stood above all else, and that loyalty to the country was not a matter for bargaining.

It said the acts alleged in the case could not be brushed off as a passing breach, but amounted to treason deserving the harshest sentence under the law: death.

The prosecution ended by saying the law would stay firm against anyone who gives up the country’s security or dares to betray it, and that justice would reach all those who seek to harm Bahrain’s sovereignty and safety.