Bahrain revokes citizenship of 56 people, based on coerced confessions

Higher Criminal Court in Bahrain stripped 56 people of their nationality

The First Higher Criminal Court in Bahrain stripped 56 people of their nationality and ordered them to pay fines ranging from 500 to 10,500 Bahrain Dinars. The defendants were tried under the terrorism law of 2006, and accused of engaging in “terrorist” activities in Bahrain. More specifically, they were charged with allegedly establishing a terrorist group called “Al-Ashtar Brigades” which smuggled firearms into Bahrain and ran training camps in Bahrain in order to plan a terrorist attack between 2012 and 2013. Four of the accused were acquitted.

It is important to mention that, at the time of the alleged criminal activity, nine of the defendants sentenced fall under the category of children, under the age of 18, including two 15-year-old boys.