Bahrain jails five for life over alleged IRGC-linked espionage
Shafaq News- Manama
Bahrain’s High Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced five defendants to life imprisonment and acquitted one in two espionage cases linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Public Prosecution announced.
Prosecutors said one case involved recruiting an Afghan national to monitor sensitive sites before adding an accomplice, while the other centered on a fugitive believed to be in Iran directing three individuals to survey key locations. The court ordered the confiscation of seized materials from the six defendants —two Afghans and four Bahraini citizens— and their deportation after completing their sentences.
في قضيتي تخابر منفصلتين.. السجن المؤبد لمتهمَيْن أفغانيَّيْن في قضية وثلاثة مواطنين في قضية أخرى لتخابرهم مع الحرس الثوري الإيراني الإرهابي للقيام بأعمال عدائية إرهابية ضد مملكة البحرين والإضرار بمصالحهاhttps://t.co/9Kp57Wl9FJ
— وكالة أنباء البحرين (@bna_ar) April 28, 2026
In separate rulings, the court issued verdicts in 22 additional cases tied to what authorities described as Iranian-linked hostile activities, sentencing 24 individuals to five to ten years in prison, fining some, and handing another a one-year term, alongside confiscation orders.
أحكام بالسجن تصل لعشر سنوات لخمسة وعشرين متهما في قضايا منفصلة لتأييدهم الأعمال الإرهابية الإيرانية الآثمة على مملكة البحرينhttps://t.co/PXekFbJ3v8
— وكالة أنباء البحرين (@bna_ar) April 28, 2026
The Bahraini Interior Ministry earlier revoked the citizenship of 69 individuals, stating they had “supported hostile Iranian acts, including colluding with foreign entities,” while opposition group Al-Wefaq criticized the move as “collective punishment” linked to alleged sympathies with Iran.