Bahrain military court rejects appeals of seven convicted of terror offences

Bahrain’s Military Court of Cassation has rejected three separate appeal cases by seven men convicted of terror offences.

The group were previously convicted on December 25 on charges of forming a terrorist cell and plotting to assassinate a Bahraini army commander, according to Bahrain News Agency (BNA)

Read: Bahraini military court convicts six to death on terror charges

Appeals by four men including a soldier were rejected, the news agency said without stating their sentences. They appeared to be among a group of six sentenced to death.

The court also rejected complaints by two men for their sentences of seven years in prison and the stripping of their Bahraini nationality and another man convicted of five years in prison and the revocation of his nationality.

The men were part of a wider group of 18 people convicted in December for forming a terrorist cell. Eight of the group are still on the run in Iran and Iraq, BNA said.

Six of the defendants were given sentences ranging from death to 15 years in prison and the stripping of their nationality. Seven were sentenced to seven years in prison and the stripping of their nationality and five were acquitted.

An appeal hearing on February 21 resulted in amendments to two of the sentences from seven to five years in prison.

Bahrain has suffered from a series of terror attacks since 2011, when security forces crushed protests mainly led by the country’s Shia majority.

Since then, the country has repeatedly accused Iran of organising terrorist cells and unrest on its territory.

Last month, security forces in the island kingdom arrested 116 terror suspects accused of being part of a cell supported by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard

Read: Bahrain arrests 116 terror suspects