Court sentences inmate death suspects to prison

Manama

Six personnel of the Ministry of Interior were sentenced to jail terms ranging between 5 years to 12 months for their involvement in the death of an inmate last year. 

The accused are implicated in the death of Bahraini Hassan Al Shaikh, who was found dead in a solitary confinement after being brutally beaten. 

Two other prisoners were also attacked along with the deceased during the incident, but they survived with severe injuries. 

Among the accused, three were charged with assaulting and torturing the three prisoners, in additional to a civilian whom they held in custody without a warrant. They were also indicted of beating Al Shaikh to death. 

The other trio, including a major and two lieutenants, were accused of allowing the abuse to take place at the Reform and Rehabilitation Centre in Jaw Prison on November 5 and 6 last year.  

The High Criminal Court has sentenced the chief accused to 5 years in jail each for their crime, while the major was sentenced to three years. 

The two lieutenants were handed down one year each in prison.  

The third accused was a lecturer at the centre, where he was conducting an awareness workshop on the downsides of drug abuse. 

He allegedly discovered that one of the victims’  brother attempted to smuggle drugs into the facility during visiting hours.  

He tipped his first and second co-accused and all three then interrogated the inmate, his brother and two other prisoners suspected of being implicated.  

They held the inmates in solitary confinement for two days and kept the brother in custody without an arrest warrant. 

The incident was reported to the Public Prosecution after Al Shaikh was found dead in his cell due to the  brutal torture he suffered at the hands of the trio.  

A prison guard, who was on duty at the time of the assault, told prosecutors he could hear the screams of the inmates who were being tortured. 

All the accused earlier pleaded not guilty. 

It’s worth noting the family of Al Shaikh had last week dropped the lawsuit against the accused after being paid BD65,000 in compensation. 

But the Public Prosecution carried on with the trial against the accused.