24 Mar 2012 DT
Claims that civilians are being tried at military courts were struck down by Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa.
He confirmed to an Arabic newspaper that all cases related to last year’s incidents have been referred to civil courts.
Remaining related cases were referred to civil courts according to the law, which means that the National Safety Courts do not exist anymore, he said.
Moreover, the special body established by the Justice Ministry has already reviewed all verdicts issued by those courts, dropping some charges and releasing some prisoners.
Meanwhile, the Justice Ministry is currently implementing, in cooperation with UNDP and High Commissioner for Human Rights, a programme under which Imams are trained, in line with the ministry’s keenness to develop religious discourse and combat incitement, he added.
Need for calm
Incidents witnessed by the Kingdom resulted from a regional context and the belief in ‘being a victim of injustice’ has always been a pretext for engaging in political reforms, Shaikh Khalid said.
He called for the need to discuss claims of ‘injustice’, if there are any, through official channels.
Shaikh Khalid said that the Kingdom is going through an important phase, which “requires us to safeguard the unity of our people and protect it from attempts to ignite internal divisions.”
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National Commission