Tehran 09 January_Bahrain’s top criminal court has upheld the death penalty of two pro-democracy activists who were convicted based on torture-tainted “confessions”.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club(YJC)-On Wednesday, the High Criminal Court of Appeals upheld the previous sentencing of Mohammed Ramadhan, 37, and Hussein Moosa, 33, who were convicted in 2014 for their alleged involvement in killing a security officer.
The two --who were leading figures during the peaceful Bahraini protests of 2011 which were brutally crushed with the support of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—were tortured during interrogation to confess to a crime they hadn’t committed.
In October 2018, the Court of Cassation, Bahrain’s highest court, overturned previous rulings against them based on evidence that included a medical report and asked for the death sentences to be reviewed.
However, Wednesday’s decision will now be sent to the Court of Cassation and if approved, the two activists will face execution.
Many rights groups have condemned the ruling, saying it reveals that the Bahrain judiciary is corrupt.
The ruling is “nothing short of a political assassination and a total mockery of justice,” said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD).
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