BAHRAIN’S highest court has rejected the final appeal of a duo convicted of possessing a Kalashnikov rifle and ammunition.
The two Bahraini men were among six defendants sentenced to seven years in jail in connection with the case.
According to Cassation Court documents, the firearm belonged to the first appellant and was stashed in his house until he told the second appellant to pick it up for safekeeping.
The AK-47 was reportedly stored in a metal case, along with 30 compatible bullets.
Interior Ministry forensic experts said the rifle was fully functional and operational and that the 7.62×39-millimetre cartridges were usable and appropriately sized for it.
In their report, they also stated that human cells detected on the weapon came from the second defendant.
In October 2022, the six defendants were arrested over firearm-related charges. Three, including the two appellants, were found guilty of possessing a rifle and ammunition without a permit, while the rest were found guilty of aiding and abetting them.
One of the defendants was also convicted of attempting to smuggle a mobile phone into the Reformation and Rehabilitation Centre in Jaw and was fined BD300.
The court ruled to confiscate the illicit arms.
In June, five of the convicts tried to get their seven-year sentence overturned at the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court, but failed.
The second appellant’s lawyer argued before Cassation Court judges that his client had nothing to do with the AK-47, and that his co-appellant had given him a bag to look after which contained the weapon.
“My client had maintained his denial of the charges and harboured no criminal intent to begin with,” read the lawyer’s argument before judges.
“The bag, which was given to him for safekeeping, was meant to be returned to its original owner,” he added.
Despite their attempts at overturning the sentence, the two appellants lost their final appeal at the Cassation Court.
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