Manama: Bahrain’s Interior Minister on Wednesday suspended three senior officials following the attack on a prison that killed one policeman and enabled 10 convicts to escape.
Shaikh Rashid Bin Abdullah Al Khalifa orderedthe suspension of the General Director of the Reformation and Rehabilitation, the Head of the Reformation and Rehabilitation Centre in Jau in the southern part of Bahrain and the Director of Security and Protection, and referred them to the Public Prosecution affiliated with the Courts Directorate of the Interior Ministry, the ministry said in a statement.
“The decision follows the recommendations of an investigation committee that was set up by the Interior Minister to investigate the circumstances of the terrorist attack on the Reformation and Rehabilitation Centre in Jau on January 1," the statement carried by Bahrain News Agency (BNA).
The ministry on Sunday said that the attack on the Reformation and Rehabilitation Centre in Jau was carried out by a terrorist cell armed with automatic rifles and pistols.
The attack by the cell, made up of four to six members, happened at 5.30am and led to the death of a policeman identified as Abdul Salam Saif Ahmad, while a second policeman sustained moderate injuries during the confrontation with the terrorists, the statement added.
The ministry said that the ten convicts who escaped were “convicted in terrorist cases.”
Shaikh Rashid ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the circumstances of the case.
The ministry said that people who had information about the escaped convicts or about the terrorists who assisted them should call 999 or the hotline 80008008, and warned against helping the escaped prisoners.
Article 255 of Bahrain’s Penal Code stipulates that “any person who either personally or through another provides shelter for a defendant accused in a serious crime or a felony that is punishable by imprisonment or against whom an arrest warrant has been issued, or a death sentence or a penalty involving deprivation of liberty has been passed, and being aware thereof, shall he liable for the following punishments:
“If he provides shelter for a person subject to a death sentence, the punishment shall be imprisonment for a period not exceeding seven years. If the accused is liable for life or term imprisonment or accused of a felony the punishment of which is a death sentence, the penalty shall be imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years.”
