Trial of Ali Salman, others postponed

Manama : The High Criminal Court held yesterday postponed to November 29 the trial of Ali Salman Ali Ahmed, Hassan Ali Juma Sultan and Ali Mahdi Ali Al Aswad who are facing charges of intelligence links with the State of Qatar.

The three accused were referred by the Public Prosecutor to the court for intelligence contacts with a foreign state to carry out subversive acts against the Kingdom of Bahrain in order to undermine its political and economic status and its national interests and topple the regime, Advocate General Osama Al Oufi stated.

They were also charged with revealing defence secrets to a foreign country, accepting money from a foreign state for divulging military secrets and information pertaining to the internal situation in the Kingdom, and disseminating false information and inciting allegations abroad in order to weaken financial trust in the Kingdom and undermine its prestige.

The trial was held in a public hearing as required by law, but the accused in custody refused to attend the session even though he was legally informed about it, Al Oufi said in the statement. The second and third suspects are being tried in absentia after they fled the country. The court decided to postpone the trial to November 29 and inform the accused.