Bahrain’s High Criminal Court has sentenced nine people to life in prison after convicting them of collaborating with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to plan hostile acts against the kingdom, state media reported on Sunday.
The Terror Crimes Prosecution said the convictions came in two separate cases involving 11 defendants accused of espionage for the IRGC. Two others were sentenced to three years in prison, while the court ordered the confiscation of all related items.
Prosecutors said the first case involved a fugitive allegedly linked to the IRGC who recruited a Bahrain-based defendant to surveil and film sensitive sites in the kingdom. A second defendant was accused of renting hotel rooms and apartments to monitor a site and pass information to the fugitive.
Investigators also identified a third defendant, who worked in currency exchange, financial transfers and cryptocurrencies and owned an office in Iran, as being linked to the fugitive.
Prosecutors said he used bank accounts in Iran and Bahrain to move funds, converting Iranian rials into Bahraini dinars to finance the network’s activities.
The fourth and fifth defendants allegedly visited the second defendant during surveillance operations to provide cover and deflect suspicion, knowing the targets were being monitored for “terrorist purposes”, the prosecution said.
In the second case, prosecutors said the same fugitive recruited another Bahrain-based defendant to work for the IRGC and tasked him with monitoring a vital installation and finding local recruits. That defendant allegedly enlisted four others to monitor, film and gather information on key sites for the IRGC.
The prosecution said forensic examinations were conducted on seized electronic devices and testimony was taken from investigators and other witnesses.
It said the information provided to the IRGC was used as a basis for hostile and “terrorist acts” against vital infrastructure in Bahrain, threatening the kingdom’s security and stability.
The cases were heard over several sessions, with defence lawyers present throughout proceedings, before the court delivered its verdicts.
