The Bahraini High Criminal Court has sentenced 51 defendants to prison terms ranging between five years and life in jail on charges of establishing, organizing and joining a terrorist group and committing crimes within the framework of that groups activities. The court also ruled fines of BD 100,000 for 17 accused, ordered three accused to pay for the damages they caused estimated at BD 51,400, acquitted one accused and confiscated the seized items, state news agency BNA reported. The Public Prosecution had conducted extensive investigations and intelligence work that found defendants organizing themselves within a group established by some of them to commit terrorist acts in Bahrain, based on directives received from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards leaders abroad who take Iran and Iraq as sanctuaries. The defendants were assigned to form and organize armed groups consisting of internal elements to plan and carry out terrorist and sabotage operations in Bahrain. The accused members of the group who are in Bahrain were arrested late last year by the General Department of Investigation and Criminal Evidence. Investigations and intelligence revealed that the 52 defendants, including 27 fugitives abroad, had received financial support and funding from the Revolutionary Guards and that they were supplied with weapons, explosives, equipment and tools necessary to commit terrorist operations in Bahrain. According to BNA, they plotted to target economic and vital installations, security patrol sites, and the headquarters of the Ministry of Interior and Bahrain Defense Force. To carry out their plans, the terrorists in Bahrain were assigned to travel to Iran and Iraq where they underwent military training in the camps of the Revolutionary Guard and the Iraqi Hezbollah. They were also trained on how to lead the terrorist groups in Bahrain and instructed to recruit other terrorists to form separate clusters that would carry out the terrorist operations in the different areas of Bahrain. They were also trained militarily on the use of weapons, explosives and monitoring operations. The High Criminal Court reviewed the case in public sessions in the presence of the imprisoned defendants and their lawyers during which it heard witnesses for the prosecution and the defense. It issued its verdict based on the charges and the defendants who fled.