2 defendants sentenced to death for killing Bahraini police officer

Attorney General Ahmed Al Hammadi said that the Fourth High Criminal Court on Monday sentenced two defendants to death for their role in the killing of police officer Abdulwahed Sayyed Faqir and in the attempted murder of other policemen.
Al Hammadi said that 12 defendants were put on trial in the case of the killing and attempted murders.
One defendant was sentenced to life in prison and the other defendants were given jail terms of six years each and fines of BD1,000, he said.
The nine defendants had lighter sentences after they were cleared of some of the charges, Al Hammadi explained.
The Public Prosecution said that the 12 defendants on February 14 deliberately killed the police officer and tried to kill other policemen tasked with preserving security in the Dair area.
According to the plan, the first two defendants planted an explosive device in an area where they had planned to lure the policemen.
All the defendants participated in assaulting the policemen and in luring them to the area where the explosive device had been hidden.
When the officer reached it, the defendants used a remote control to detonate the device and kill him.
They also attempted to kill the other policemen in the same manner as part of their terror scheme.
The Public Prosecution based its charges in the case on the confessions of the six suspects that were arrested, the police investigation, the eyewitness accounts and the technical and medical reports. Cellular communication between some of the defendants proving their implication in the act of terror was also used to reinforce the case.
The 12 defendants, including the six who were still at large, were tried by the court and the Public prosecution asked for the maximum penalty against them.
The verdicts can be challenged at the Court of Appeal, the Attorney General said.
Under Bahrain law, the death penalty has to be approved by the Court of Appeal and subsequently by the Court of Cassation, even if the defendant does not challenge the lower court verdict.