Bahrain: Four human rights defenders sentenced to three years imprisonment
Four human rights defenders who were acquitted in the High Criminal Court in October 2009 after the case against them collapsed when forensic evidence proved police statements to be false, have apparently now been convicted and sentenced by the Court of Appeal.
Further Information
Reports indicate that the human rights defenders, Sadeq Jawad Ahmed Al-Fardan, member of the Committee of the Unemployed; Sayed Omran Hameed Adnan, member of the Committee Against One Percent; Fadhel Abbas Mohamed Ashoor, member of the Committee to Combat High Prices; and Habib Mohamed Habib Ashoor, member of the Committee for Detainees were sentenced on the 28 March 2010 by the Court of Appeals to three years in prison, for the alleged murder of a police officer and the attempted killing of two of his comrades during a riot.
The four human rights defenders have not yet been re-arrested.
On 13 October 2009, Sadeq Jawad Ahmed Al-Fardan, Sayed Omran Hameed Adnan, Fadhel Abbas Mohamed Ashoor and Habib Mohamed Habib Ashoor were acquitted on all charges in the aforementioned case by the the High Criminal Court, after a trial that lasted 15 months, in which the scientific evidence and in particular the forensic report had proven that the police statement related to the case was false.
Previously, on 9 April 2008, Sadeq Jawad Ahmed Al-Fardan, Sayed Omran Hameed Adnan, Fadhel Abbas Mohamed Ashoor and Habib Mohamed Habib Ashoor, together with 15 political activists were arrested at their homes by the special security forces and accused of setting fire to a police car during an alleged riot.
At the time, the four human rights defenders had been involved in a peaceful demonstration against the arrest of other human rights defenders in December 2007. During their detention they were allegedly ill-treated, tortured and held in solitary confinement.
Front Line believes that the sentences are related to the recent publication of the human rights report about torture in Bahrain called "Torture Redux", which includes testimonies of defenders Sayed Omran Hameed Adnan, Fadhel Abbas Mohamed Ashoor and Habib Mohamed Habib Ashoor.
It does not appear that any new evidence was presented to the Court of Appeal which appears to have operated in manner contrary to international standards regarding fair trials.
Front Line believes that the sentences of Sadeq Jawad Ahmed Al-Fardan, Sayed Omran Hameed Adnan, Fadhel Abbas Mohamed Ashoor and Habib Mohamed Habib Ashoor are directly linked to their work in defence of human rights.
Front line is seriously concerned for the physical integrity of Sadeq Jawad Ahmed Al-Fardan, Sayed Omran Hameed Adnan, Fadhel Abbas Mohamed Ashoor and Habib Mohamed Habib Ashoor.
Front Line sees this as part of a pattern of ongoing harassment and intimidation against defenders and human rights organisations in Bahrain, which is an infringement of the guarantees of freedom of association, assembly and expression contained in Bahrain's domestic law and the international human rights treaties and standards to which Bahrain is party.
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