All options now over for convicts

Manama : All the legal options are now over for the three defendants convicted in connection with the murder of the three police officers to avoid death sentence as the Cassation Court, Bahrain’s highest court, has rejected their final appeals.

Besides the death of three officers, at least seven others were injured during the detonation, which recorded the highest death toll suffered by security forces in a single attack since the 2011 unrest.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said it was one of three blasts in Daih, although two resulted in no injuries. A fourth bomb was discovered and defused. A medical examiner earlier said before the court that injuries incurred by the victim as a result of the attack were caused by projectiles packed inside the explosive device.

He said that the victims died on account of the explosion, explaining that “Mr Al Shehi died due to the projectiles scattered by the bomb, while the other two policemen were killed as a result of the strong impact of the explosive.”

BD929.661 fined

The Bahrainis were also fined a combined total of BD929.661 for the property damages caused by the blast. The defendants - allegedly members of the so-called Saraya Al Ashtar (Al Ashtar Brigade) - constructed 10 home-made explosives, while the third and fourth defendants, aged 24 and 40, planted three of the bombs near a mall in Daih to “kill as many policemen as possible”.

According to prosecutors, the 40-year-old defendant was paid BD1,400 and instructed to buy bomb-making materials, make the explosive, observe policemen and co-ordinate the operation using a wireless telecommunication device.

The 24-year-old was said to have been lying on top of a building to trigger the fatal blast. The first and second defendants were reportedly responsible of forming the group and fuelling it with the required finance to carry out its terrorist activities.