A teenage student has been sentenced to a year in jail for assaulting a policeman and disrespecting an officer of the law.
The 18-year-old Bahraini convict refused to rise when judges entered the courtroom during a hearing on his appeal, and then assaulted a policeman who tried to escort him out.
In March this year, the young man was present at the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court as an appellant in a destruction of property case, when he reportedly did not stand up when court was called.
“Everyone stood up in respect for the court as the judges came into the court hall, except the defendant, who remained seated,” read the verdict.
“A policeman on duty asked him to rise, but he refused to do so. When the leading judge noticed this, he asked that the defendant be forcefully removed from the courtroom.
“As he was being escorted out, the defendant pushed the officer onto the glass barrier that separates the appellants from the rest of the courtroom.
“His actions toward the officer caused a shallow cut to the latter’s forehead and other mild scratches.”
The officer testified that he was responding to the judge’s orders to remove the teenager, and that the Bahraini was eventually brought under control by policemen following the assault.
The 18-year-old from Demistan admitted to the Public Prosecution that he pushed the officer, and the incident was confirmed through security camera footage.
Despite being summoned to appear before the High Criminal Court and defend himself, the teenager signed forms in which he refused to be brought from prison in Jaw to the court in Manama.
He reportedly made no attempt to avoid a conviction in this case, or deny the charges.
Court documents added that he was present with a number of co-appellants, all of whom showed appropriate respect to the court and its proceedings.
He was at the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court to contest a one-year sentence issued by the High Criminal Court in February this year.
He was previously sentenced in at least two other criminal cases, in which he was sentenced to three months behind bars each.
Records show that he was first arrested in October 2023 in a vandalism case, and was let out of prison in April 2024, but was once again arrested in October 2024 on another delinquency charges.
The Public Prosecution had asked judges to penalise the young man to the fullest extent of the law for showing disrespect to Bahrain’s legal institutions.
“We rest our case, and ask that you issue a ruling that maintains the respect and authority of our state’s civil servants, who work very hard for its safety and security,” read a memo submitted by the prosecution.
“Everyone knows that civil servants are protected by the law and cannot be treated with violence under any circumstances.
“For those who are contemplating committing a transgression against a civil servant or a public security officer, this verdict will be a great deterrent.”
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