3 Bahrainis get jail terms of 15 years each for attacking police

A Bahraini court has handed down jail terms of 15 years to each of the three people convicted of "attacking police forces" in the country, says a Bahraini prosecutor. 

In a statement carried by the state-run Bahrain News Agency, BNA, prosecutor Ahmed al-Hammadi said in the first case two of the convicts, one of whom was tried in absentia, were imprisoned on Monday.

The pair had been charged with carrying out a bomb assault targeting police in a Shia village near the capital, Manama, two years ago, which caused damage but left no casualties, Hammadi stated.

The official added that in the second trial the third defendant was put in prison for allegedly opening fire at policemen last year in another Shia town, wounding one of the officers.

The citizenship of the third defendant would be revoked, he said.

The trio, who got jail terms, were not identified.

On Monday, the Bahraini criminal court also sentenced three people to life in prison, convicting them of planning to carry out a “terrorist” plot through possession of arms.

The Shia majority of Bahrain has long complained of being discriminated against by the Bahraini Sunni-dominated Al Khalifa regime.

Anti-regime demonstrators have been holding rallies on the streets of Bahrain since mid-February 2011, calling on the ruling family to relinquish power.

Manama is engaged in a heavy-handed crackdown on peaceful protests. Rights groups have repeatedly criticized the Bahraini regime for handing down long-term sentences to anti-regime protesters and activists.

Earlier this month, Amnesty International warned against an alarming surge in the expulsion of Bahraini citizens stripped of their nationality, saying the Manama regime's practice is aimed at suppressing dissent.

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