Terror case: Closing arguments on Apr 11

The closing arguments in the trial of a man convicted of attempting to travel abroad to join a terrorist organisation will be heard on April 11.

The appellant was handed down three years in prison for his crime. The 26-year-old defendant was captured while trying to travel to Oman using a passport that doesn’t belong to him. And later it was learned that he was trying to flee to Turkey in order to join the Islamic State in Syria.

He reportedly manipulated his appearance to fit the picture attached with the passport in an effort to mislead the customs officers. However, he was apprehended after officers recognised the facial differences between his face and the image of the person in the document. 

The Public Prosecution initially said in a statement that the suspect was attempting to travel to Oman, but he underlined during the interrogation that his final destination was Turkey to seek political asylum. He resorted to this trick to leave Bahrain because he is on the Kingdom’s travel ban list, according to court documents.  

He was in possession of the passport because he deceived a man by offering him a fake fully-paid trip to Mecca to perform Umrah. 

“The owner of the passport revealed during interrogation that he wasn’t aware of the intention of the suspect,” the Public Prosecution said in a statement earlier. 

“The defendant booked two tickets, one to Oman and the other one to Turkey, as he was trying to join an outlawed group,” according to the statement.  

The defendant was arrested at the Bahrain International Airport on April 20 last year.