BFHR: Arbitrary sentences amounting to 680 years issued after an unfair trial of 171 Bahrainis that was based on false investigations
The Bahrain Forum for Human Rights (BFHR) said that the arbitrary sentences issued after the trial of 171 Bahraini citizens, who were being tried for participating in the peaceful sit-in in front of the house of Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, were based on false investigations, confessions extracted under torture and false arrest proceedings. The BFHR added that the security officials and members, who were involved in various violations, including extrajudicial killings and torture after the raid on the peaceful sit-in square in Duraz, were able to escape very well from punishment.
The BFHR further said that the total issued arbitrary sentences amounted to 680 years of imprisonment for 171 citizens, who are from 32 regions; 52 citizens were arbitrarily sentenced to ten years in prison; 101 citizens were arbitrarily sentenced to one year in prison; 9 citizens were arbitrarily sentenced to three years in prison; 4 citizens were sentenced to six months in prison and four others were acquitted; the total fines amounted to BD 1500.
“The incidents of arresting all the defendants were not found in the documents of the lawsuit; the documents of the case did not include any evidence of the existence of the arrest procedures of the accused,” the BFHR said, adding that “all the prosecution witnesses said they did not arrest any of the accused in the case.” “In addition, the investigation record was completed a day after arresting the accused in the case, which confirms the invalidity of the arrest procedures, and thus, all evidence based on them must be invalidated,” the BFHR added.
“Through the examination of the case file, it is clear that the investigations are invalid and unserious, as these investigations were not conducted except after interrogating all defendants, whose statements were taken and put in a document named investigation record; hence, the person who prepared these investigations did not make any inquiries, if he had done so, he would have submitted them before the arrest and the investigation took place,” the BFHR explained. “In addition, not disclosing the statements made by secret sources to the investigation officer is a clear violation of the Code of Criminal Procedure, because that contradicts the work of the Public Prosecution authority in supervising the work of law enforcement officers.”
“The statements of the defendants in the case were extracted under coercion and torture. The victims were threatened not to change their statements when they were brought before the Public Prosecution after they had been in the detention center for long periods, which invalidates the statements taken before the security department and before the public prosecution,” the BFHR noted.
The BFHR pointed out that the security authorities are involved in killing five citizens during the security operation in Duraz, who are: Mohammad Ali Ibrahim Ahmad al-Sari, Mohammad Abdul-Karim al-Ekri, Mohammad Ahmad Hassan Hamdan, Mohammad Kadhem Mohsen Ali Nasser Zeinedine and Ahmad Jamil Ahmad Mohammad al-Asfour, in addition to Mustafa Hamdan, who sustained a fatal head injury on January 26, 2017, after a masked group affiliated with the Interior Ministry fired live bullets and teargas at the protesters in Duraz, violating their right to peaceful assembly.
One eyewitness told the BFHR that after Mohammad Kadhem Zeinedine fell to the ground due to the illegal use of shotguns, which caused direct injuries to the heart and the right lung, accompanied by a heart failure and an injury hemorrhage, the victim was taken to a nearby house. There were attempts to rescue him – because of the inability to transfer him to the hospital due to the use of excessive force by the security forces. When the rescuing attempts did not succeed, some people took him to the security members to request an ambulance, but the security members refused to rescue him, and kept him on the ground near the door of the house for about half anhour before their eyes while he was dying. After that, some of the individuals in that house tried unsuccessfully to rescue him until he passed away. Despite a forensic report issued on 06/18/2017 confirming that the death was due to the use of shotgun shells, there was no serious prosecution of those involved in the incident.
One of the victims said that after raiding the sit-in square next to the house of Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Ahmad Qassim, he was injured by the use of excessive force, so he fell on the ground, near the same door where Mohammad Kadhem Zeinedine laid. The victim added, “A security member kicked me several times despite my injury, to make sure whether I was still alive or not, instead of rescuing me, so I pretended to be dead. Then, another security member next to the one kicking my body said, “Leave him, he’s dead.”
In addition, all these events, over which 171 Bahrainis have been tried, happened after imposing a security siege on Duraz that lasted for nearly a year. This siege affected several aspects, including: Internet usage was not available within certain times in and surrounding Duraz; Duraz residents couldn’t meet their relatives and friends outside Duraz; the sieged Duraz had been in financial and social isolation from the rest of Bahraini regions; many local businesses suffered dramatically, and major losses were incurred; only two entrances allowed access to Duraz, while the rest were fully cordoned off by the security forces.
The security authorities restrictively targeted residential areas in Duraz, making the movement of the residents terribly difficult. Military vehicles were deployed at all the main entrances, and minor entrances were sealed off with concrete slabs and barbed wires. Duraz residents were subjected to repeated questioning and inspection, humiliated and had their beliefs insulted by the security men.
The security forces cut off all roads leading to Duraz, so people were not allowed to reach the area without displaying their identity cards to assure that they are Duraz's residents, and they often had to wait for long periods of time. Thus, those who do not live in Duraz cannot reach it, employees cannot reach their offices early, and students cannot reach their schools and universities on time. Moreover, the security forces kept attacking the residential neighborhoods and firing fission bullets (birdshot) and tear gas from time to time.