Bahrain: al-Jamri to be sentenced today

The Bahrain High Civil Appeal Court sentenced Sheikh Abdul Ameer al-Jamri today to 10 years in prison and a fine of 5,000 Bahraini dinars, Gulf News Agency reported. The report added that the time al-Jamri has already spent in detention will be deducted from the sentence. The court also sentenced him, along with another group that has been sentenced, to pay BD 5,709,247 in compensation for damages to property.

Abdul Shaheed Khalaf, the defense lawyer for al-Jamri, said on Tuesday that the state security court was to sentence his client today.

Al-Jamri's son said the government seeks to release a sentence which will doe the least damage and and elicit the least reaction from the people.

Al-Jamri is one of eight Shiite opposition leaders who were detained on January 21 and 22, 1996 on charges of carrying out a major role in the acts of disorder that had taken place in Bahrain since 1994, which resulted in killing at least 38 persons.

Earlier, Bahraini Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Issa al-Khaleifa pardoned more than 300 of those accused of being involved in such acts of violence.