TWO teenagers jailed for being part of a terror cell have had their cases returned to the restorative justice court following the implementation of a new law.
They are among 18 men who planned to bomb key establishments in Bahrain, including the CID headquarters in Adliya.
The Bahraini defendants, aged between 17 and 37, were also found guilty by the High Criminal Court in February of receiving militia training abroad and possessing explosives since 2017.
However, only nine men who were in custody previously appeared in court where they denied the charges; the other nine defendants who are at large are being tried in absentia.
Eight of them were jailed for life, which holds a 25-year prison term. Two defendants were sentenced to 15 years behind bars, two to 10 years in jail and five were imprisoned for five years.
The 18th defendant was jailed for seven years for aiding and abetting the crime.
The two defendants jailed for 10 years were aged 17 at the time of the crime. Their lawyers lodged appeals against the ruling following implementation of the new law.
Initial appeals at the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court were rejected in July but a final plea at the Cassation Court was accepted yesterday.
The court sent the case back to the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court to forward it to the newly-opened high restorative justice court.
“The defendants, who are under the age of 18, were found guilty of the charges before the new law was put in place,” read the Cassation Court ruling.
“Child Corrective Justice Law was approved in February and will be in favour of the defendant since they carried out the crime under the age of 18.
“Cases pertaining to those aged below 18 – who were sentenced before the establishment of the child courts – will now be reviewed by a special committee,” stated the ruling.
The defendants tried to detonate explosives outside the CID headquarters in Adliya, the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre, Sanabis, and near an oil pipeline in Hamala.
The illicit group is said to be part of Saraya Al Ashtar (Al Ashtar Brigades).
Four masterminds, including Alsayed Murtadha Al Sindi (who was branded a global terrorist by the US in 2017), are said to have headed the group. The 37-year-old, who is said to be one of the leaders of Saraya Al Ashtar, is currently at large and believed to be in Iran.
Authorities confiscated C4 explosives and claymore mines from a house in Saar belonging to a 24-year-old defendant.
noorz@gdn.com.bh○
&uuid=(email))