The Court’s fourth chamber, comprising Judges Ali Khalifa Al-Thahrani, Hamad Salman Al-Khalifa, and Mohammed Ezzat, voted unanimously on the death penalty on the first defendant, a life sentence for six others, six years for one, and five years and a BD 500-fine for the remaining defendant, while confiscating the remaining firearms and ammunition retrieved from them, he said.
The defendants had perpetrated a campaign last February targeting all policemen within reach with murderous intentions. The first defendant requested from the ninth defendant – both brothers – to provide him with a flare gun used on ships by his employers, a maritime company, specifically for use against policemen.
After providing the crime weapon, defendants staged a riot and some sabotage acts to lure in policemen in Al-Khamis area on February 14, 2013, where a number of officers were targeted with Molotov cocktails and stones. Amidst the staged clashes, the first defendant targeted the victim, Khan, with a flare dart shot straight to the gut, where it exploded, and causing fatal wounds.
The Public Prosecution had commenced investigations immediately after the incident, with forensics and a coroner examining the corpse, where indications showed that vital organs were subjected to severe trauma above the right pelvic area, with completely burnt tissue and residual gas accumulations in the stomach, causing the victim’s death.
Surviving members of the responding police patrol unit testified to the Public Prosecution their witness accounts of the crime, alongside a description from the defendants, who restaged their actions in a demonstration before the prosecutors, who later transferred the first eight defendants incarcerated to the Higher Criminal Court, under the accusations of unlawful gathering, harmful intent, utilizing violence, committing acts that led to murder, targeting victims with explosive materials, possession of incendiary devices.
The first and ninth defendants were additionally accused of acquiring and producing a projectile weapon and explosives, while the ninth defendant was specifically accused of aiding in the perpetration of the crime, as well as being an accomplice to the remaining defendants. The first defendant was also accused of using violent force with public servants. After all hearings and proceedings were concluded, the Court reached a unanimous verdict that the defendants’ actions called for maximum punishment.