Three jailed in Bahrain for possessing arms

Manama: Three defendants had been hit with lifetime sentences each on grounds of possessing arms to use them against police officers, on Monday. The trio included notorious prisoner Redha Al Ghasra, whose total jail term has jumped to over 150 years after Monday’s sentence, as he was found guilty before in several major security cases. 

He was involved in two prison escape attempts, including a successful one, but he was arrested later. In the second attempt, he was caught.  while trying to climb up the prison fence. 

Ahmed Al Hammadi, the Terrorist Crimes Prosecution, said in a statement that the trio had been arrested after a tip-off that the first defendant had stashed weapons in an apartment in Sitra. He had planned to use them against police officers, public and private properties, according to Al Hammadi. 

A total of three Kalashnikov guns, four pistols and 59 live bullets were seized during the raid in the apartment. The second and third (Al Ghasra) defendants were arrested after the first defendant told prosecutors that they were also involved in the case. 

The first defendant told prosecutors that he had purchased one of the arms from Al Ghasra for BD350, while the second defendant provided him with the rest of the weapons. He said he had wanted just to protect himself.