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Bahrain jails nine over coup plot

Manama, April 29, 2014

A total of nine men have been jailed five years in Bahrain for attempting to overthrow the monarchy, a report said.

They were part of the so-called Tamarod (rebellion) movement, which called for a mass uprising and nationwide strike on August 14 last year, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

Tamarod took its name from an Egyptian grassroots movement that brought about the removal of former president Mohamed Mursi, but prosecutors say the Bahrain group was set up to provoke violence and encourage acts of sabotage.

According to court documents, one of the group's members, who took photos of illegal rallies and designed the group's logo, had helped to promote the movement after seeking support from political societies and electronic newspapers.

He would meet with Al Wefaq National Islamic Society media head Sayed Taher Al Mousawi to procure financial support for the Tamarod group and raise awareness of its aims, the court heard.

He is even said to have changed the group's emblem after one such meeting took place.

Meanwhile, a man described as the group's mastermind was said to have met with the organisers of the opposition e-newspaper Bahrain Mirror and the account holders for various anti-government Twitter pages to seek support.

"The defendants were part of the Tamarod movement and set up the illicit group to topple the regime and subvert the constitution," read court documents.

"One of the defendants set up the group, while another ran the group using social media networks and posted pictures of unlicensed rallies."

All the defendants called for unauthorised rallies on August 14 last year "aiming to cripple the country," according to prosecutors.

All nine Bahrainis were convicted of attempting to overthrow the monarchy by the High Criminal Court yesterday.

Their lawyers said they will lodge appeals against their convictions at the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court.

The GDN earlier reported that some businesses closed on August 14 last year after receiving threats from thugs, but the campaign was largely ignored by Bahrainis and expatriates and was generally regarded as a failure - despite sporadic protests inside villages alongside attacks on policemen.

Prosecutors claim the Tamarod group planned to continue the work of the February 14 Coalition, which has been credited with training teenagers in firearms use and bomb-making, blowing up ATMs, orchestrating arson attacks on car showrooms and detonating a series of explosive devices in Manama that killed two Asian expatriates.

Sixteen men who headed the coalition were each sentenced to 15 years in jail in September last year. Thirty-four others who joined the terror cell were also sentenced to jail - four of them for 10 years and the rest for five years. – TradeArabia News Service




Tags: Bahrain | Jail | Tamarod |

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