Alwaght- A High Military Court in Bahrain issued on Monday a verdict in a high profile case of 18 pro-democracy activists, with six sentenced to death.
The Military High Court found the defendants guilty of “forming a terror cell, attempting to assassinate Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Sheikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifah and committing other acts of terror.”
Bahrain's state-run news agency reported that one of those sentenced to death, identified as Mubarak Adel Mubarak Mahanna, was a serving soldier before his arrest.
The court sentenced seven other defendants to seven-year jail terms and deprived them too of their citizenship. Five men were acquitted.
Only 10 of the defendants are in custody, while the other eight are on the run – either inside Bahrain or in neighboring countries.
The court also convicted and sentenced seven defendants to seven years' incarceration and stripped their Bahraini nationality, and acquitted five others.
The trial is the first of its kind since constitutional amendments were passed allowing military courts to try civilians accused of threatening the security of the state.
The sentences come days after four Bahraini human rights organizations issued a report under the title of "Death or Confession", a report that monitors the violations due to secret military courts that tried civilians whose confessions were extracted under torture.
Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country in mid-February 2011.
They are demanding that the Al Khalifah dynasty relinquish power and allow a just system representing all Bahrainis to be established.
Manama has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent. On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to assist Bahrain in its crackdown.
Many people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries or got arrested as a result of the Al Khalifah regime’s crackdown.
