Qatar intelligence case appeal trial postponed

Prosecution argues its solid evidence was not properly assessed by criminal court

Bahrain’s High Court of Appeal yesterday postponed the trial of antigovernment activists Ali Salman Ali Ahmad, Hassan Ali Juma Sultan and Ali Mahdi Ali Al Aswad, on charges of sharing intelligence with Qatar, to September 26.

The case was reviewed by the court after Bahrain’s Advocate General in June appealed a ruling by the High Criminal Court that acquitted them.

At the session held in public and attended by the first defendant and his lawyers, the public prosecution said a series of legal errors had prompted it to challenge the acquittal.

Violation of legal principles, contradictions and shortcomings were stated by prosecution as reasons for the appeal.

In challenging the verdict in June, the prosecution argued that although it presented strong evidence that implicated the three defendants in deals with Qatari officials, to fuel acts of sabotage and violence in the country during the events that unfolded in Bahrain in early 2011, the criminal court did not assess them properly.

Evidence presented by the prosecution at the trial included records of tasks assigned by Qatari officials to the defendants, substantiated by testimonies from witnesses. The defendants and their lawyers could not refute the compelling evidence it had submitted, the prosecution said.

The three were tried on charges of spying for a foreign country, to carry out subversive acts against Bahrain and undermine its political and economic status and national interests.