Manama: Bahrain said the decision to arrest a former lawmaker was related to charges of financing terrorism.
Hassan Eisa was arrested on August 18 as he was returning home from Iran, the Director General of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science said late on Sunday.
The former MP and member of Al Wefaq National Islamic Political Society was detained “on charges related to financing terrorism among terrorist fugitives and others who are associated in terrorist acts,” he added.
The director general added that Hassan Eisa was “mentioned in a number of terrorist cases, including the Sitra terrorist blast on July 28 that killed two policemen.”
“After the information was verified, a warrant to arrest him was issued,” he said in a statement carried by Bahrain News Agency (BNA). “The suspect received donations from different sources, including money from participants in rallies, and then gave them to wanted fugitives. He gave a terrorist group, and one of its members, money while knowing about the terrorist activities. He also helped cover up their crimes.”
The suspect was also guilty of assisting members of the group despite knowing its terrorist goals, the statement said.
The director general added that the legal proceedings were taken and that the former lawmaker was referred to the Public Prosecution.
Hassan Eisa was elected in 2010 under the banner of Al Wefaq, the society that won 18 seats in the third parliamentary elections held in Bahrain since the promulgation of the new constitution and reforms that ended a constitutional hiatus of almost three decades.
However, he and the other 17 Al Wefaq members resigned in February 2011 in the midst of the dramatic events that unfolded in the kingdom then.
By-elections to replace the lawmakers who left were held later in the year.
