Manama, April 28 (BNA): According to the Chief Prosecutor of the Terrorist Crimes Prosecution, the High Criminal Court rendered judgments in two distinct cases involving cooperation with foreign entities during its session today, Tuesday.
Life imprisonment in two espionage cases for collaborating with terrorist Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps
In the two instances, six defendants—two Afghan nationals and four citizens—were accused of working with the terrorist Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to carry out hostile and terrorist acts against the Kingdom of Bahrain and damage its interests. The Court ordered the forfeiture of the seized items, condemned five defendants to life in prison, found one defendant not guilty, and mandated the permanent deportation of the Afghan defendants upon completion of their sentences.
One of the defendants, an Afghan national, was contacted by the IRGC and recruited to carry out its terrorist plans in the Kingdom of Bahrain, according to information verified by investigations carried out by the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science. In order to carry out hostile acts against the Kingdom of Bahrain and undermine its interests, he was given intelligence-related responsibilities, such as keeping an eye on and taking pictures of crucial facilities within the nation and gathering data about them. In order to carry it out, the defendant received money from the terrorist IRGC in exchange for keeping an eye on one of the crucial sites and gathering information about it. For the advantage of the aforementioned organization, the same defendant also enlisted the second defendant, who has the same nationality, to help him with those intelligence operations. As a result, the two offenders were apprehended while in possession of the instruments that were used to carry out the crime.
The second incident’s details also stem from information verified by investigations carried out by the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science regarding specific terrorist IRGC members recruiting one of the defendants—a fugitive citizen living in the Islamic Republic of Iran—and convincing him to work for them in order to further their terrorist goals against the Kingdom of Bahrain. In order to carry out the aforementioned terrorist organization’s intentions, he was entrusted with finding local elements within the Kingdom to recruit and exploit. In carrying it out, he managed to enlist the other three defendants—all citizens—in the same occurrence. They were tasked with monitoring, observing, and photographing important facilities, gathering information about them, and reporting that information to the IRGC in order to undermine the nation’s security and interests.
As soon as the Public Prosecution received the two reports, it started looking into the two instances. It heard testimony from witnesses, including the investigating officer, questioned the arrested suspects, and assigned technical specialists to inspect the confiscated computer devices. According to him, his investigations revealed that the defendants’ data and information to the terrorist IRGC constituted a fundamental basis for the hostile terrorist acts that targeted several important facilities within the Kingdom, endangering the country’s security and stability.
The Public Prosecution directed that the accused be referred to the High Criminal Court in view of the aforementioned. Before the Court rendered the aforementioned ruling in today’s session, the two distinct cases were heard over a number of sessions, during which all required legal protections were followed, including the defendants’ attorneys’ attendance and the opportunity to submit their defense. Because the two cases concerned information pertaining to national security, the Court had also issued an injunction banning publication.
Based on the evidence presented against him, the Public Prosecution is reviewing the ruling insofar as it cleared one defendant and is contemplating an appeal before the Court of Appeal.
In this regard, the Public Prosecution affirms that working with foreign entities hostile to the Kingdom of Bahrain is one of the most serious crimes affecting national security because it allows these entities to obtain information that could be used to carry out hostile acts against the Kingdom and its interests.
The Public Prosecution further emphasizes that, in order to safeguard the nation’s security and stability, it will continue, within the bounds of its legal authority, to strongly confront anyone who commits such crimes and to take deterrent legal action against them.
