CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ACCEPTS TERROR SUSPECT CASE

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 001914

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2014
TAGS: PTER ASEC PREL BA
SUBJECT: CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ACCEPTS TERROR SUSPECT CASE

REF: MANAMA 1834

Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe. Reason: 1.4 (B)(D)


1. (C) As expected, Bahrain's Criminal Court decided on
December 20 to temporarily suspend its hearing on the case
against four terrorist suspects, pending a decision by
Constitutional Court on the constitutionality of article 157
of the penal code under which the four are charged. The
decision was a formality once the suspects' defense lawyers
demonstrated to the Criminal Court judge that the
Constitutional Court had accepted the case. The head of the
Constitutional Court told the Ambassador December 21 that he
has five cases already on his docket, and he expects the case
to be heard in the next two to three months. In the
meantime, the suspects remain under surveillance.


2. (C) The Ambassador on December 20 discussed the
constitutional case with the President of the Court of
Cassation (Supreme Court) Shaikh Khalifa bin Rashid Al
Khalifa, who said that the question of the constitutionality
of the case is not frivolous. He said that the courts in
Cairo had considered a similar law in a criminal case, and
viewed it unconstitutional, while in Kuwait the
constitutionality of the law had been upheld. Basically, he
said, the law punishes people who are involved in the
planning of a crime, whether or not they actual carry out the
plan. In purely criminal cases, he said, that can be
problematic, especially in terms of the evidence. He
acknowledged that planning for a terrorist crime is something
different, and is something that countries -- not just
Bahrain -- are currently grappling with.
MONROE