52 of Diraz protest defendants sentenced to 10 years in jail

The Bahrain Forum for Human Rights (BFHR) said that the arbitrary sentences issued after the trial of 171 Bahraini Shia activists, who were being tried for participating in the peaceful sit-in, were based on false investigations, confessions extracted under torture and false arrest proceedings.

The Bahrain Forum for Human Rights (BFHR) said that the arbitrary sentences issued after the trial of 171 Bahraini Shia activists, who were being tried for participating in the peaceful sit-in, were based on false investigations, confessions extracted under torture and false arrest proceedings.

The BFHR further said that the total arbitrary sentences amounted to 680 years of imprisonment for 171 Shia activists, who are from 32 regions; 52 Shia activistswere arbitrarily sentenced to ten years in prison; 101 Shia activists were arbitrarily sentenced to one year in prison; 9 Shia activists were arbitrarily sentenced to three years in prison; 4 Shia activists 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.