Bahraini woman, son get three years in jail for ?fake bomb?

DUBAI: A Bahraini woman and her son were sentenced Monday to three years in prison for planting a "fake bomb", activists said, in what Amnesty International has called a reprisal case. Hajar Mansoor Hassan and her son Sayed Nizar Alwadaei, 18, were charged under the Gulf state?s counter-terrorism law with planting a fake bomb, the London-based Bahrain Institute for Human Rights and Democracy (BIRD) said. A nephew of Hassan, Mahmood Marzouq, 30, was acquitted of the bomb charge but sentenced to six weeks in jail and fined 100 Bahraini dinars ($265) for possessing a knife, according to BIRD. All three have been in custody since March, but were not brought before the court for the sentencing. The case has come under international scrutiny over both the validity of the charges and the trial procedures. Amnesty International tweeted that Monday?s sentencing was "a reprisal" for the work of the London-based BIRD?s director of advocacy, who is also Hassan?s son-in-law. In a report published on March 27, a group of United Nations special rapporteurs said there was evidence that Bahraini interrogators had threatened Alwadaei "to take revenge on him" over BIRD?s Bahraini director. Human Rights Watch also condemned Monday?s verdicts. "The judicial process was marred by due process violations and allegations of ill treatment and coerced confessions," said the New York-based rights watchdog, adding that an appeal would be filed. "Today?s guilty verdict on dubious charges against three relatives of a human rights defender are testimony to Bahrain?s comprehensive campaign to muzzle dissent," said Joe Stork, HRW?s deputy director for Middle East. "Targetting family members to silence activists amounts to collective punishment," he said. On October 26, 15 non-governmental organisations, including Amnesty and Reporters Without Borders, issued an open letter to several Western governments on the case. The letter asked that the governments demand the authorities in Bahrain drop all charges and release the three. Hassan was one of five women who last week went on hunger strike for six days in protest at the mistreatment of detainees at the Isa Town women?s detention facility. Authorities have since agreed to their demands, which include clean sheets, privacy during phone calls to family and removal of a glass barrier during family visits. Bahrain ? a key ally of the US which bases its Fifth Fleet there ? has cracked down on political dissent since a wave of protests began in 2011 demanding an elected government. Hundreds of protesters have since been jailed and number of high-profile activists and clerics stripped of their citizenship. In April, parliament gave approval for military courts to try civilians charged with "terrorism", a vaguely defined legal term in the kingdom. Bahrain accuses Iran of training "terrorist cells" that aim to overthrow its government, an allegation Tehran denies.