27 February 2018•Update: 28 February 2018
By Ahmed al-Masri
DOHA, Qatar
A Bahraini court on Tuesday upheld death sentences handed down earlier against two people convicted of killing a policeman in 2016, according to local press reports.
Bahraini daily Al Ayyam reported that the Supreme Court of Appeals had upheld an earlier decision -- issued last summer by a court of first instance -- “to execute those convicted of murdering police officer Mohamed Nafeed”.
The court also reportedly upheld life-in-prison sentences handed down against three other convicted individuals, along with jail terms -- ranging from three to 10 years each -- for seven others.
The same court also ruled to revoke the citizenship from nine defendants in the same case.
Tuesday's decision is still subject to appeal before the Court of Cassation, Bahrain’s highest appellate court.
The verdict comes only one day after the Court of Cassation upheld a death sentence handed down earlier against a Bahraini citizen convicted on charges related to terrorism and espionage.
Bahrain was roiled by a wave of protests that first erupted in early 2011. Led by the country’s Shia opposition, the unrest was finally put down in 2014, due largely to Saudi military intervention on behalf of Bahrain’s Sunni-ruled regime.
