Bahrain’s reputation of being a safe and secure place to live and work was given a boost with the release of new figures which revealed that criminal cases, spanning from theft to terrorism, had reduced by 41 per cent in the last three years.
The criminal cases at the Public Prosecution reached 45,757 last year compared with 65,969 in 2020.
Details were released yesterday by Attorney General Dr Ali Al Buainain at a media briefing held at the Public Prosecution’s headquarters in the Diplomatic Area, in the presence of Advocate General Osama Al Oufi and Attorney General Assistant Wael Buallay.
“We continue to witness a drop in criminal cases due to the authorities being alert, alongside combined efforts in partnership with the community,” Dr Al Buainain told the GDN.
Offences
“Out of the incidents we investigated a total of 9,366 cases were sent to be viewed by the courts of which 9,055 were misdemeanours and 311 more serious offences.”
Dr Al Buainain added the number of drug-related cases in 2019 hit 1,506, dropped to 782 in 2020 and slightly increased to 896 last year.
The number of cases involving alleged theft continued to fall for a third year in a row. In 2019, 7,431 cases were recorded by the Public Prosecution, while the following year they dropped to 6,184 cases and further reduced to 4,940.
The number of traffic cases investigated by the Public Prosecution in 2020 reached 3,358 which were slightly reduced to 3,343 last year.
There were 187 money laundering, embezzlement and financial crime cases reported and 43 were sent before the courts. Among those cases set before the judges were seven corruption cases, 12 tax evasion cases and 10 money laundering cases.
A total of BD492 million was confiscated in connection to money laundering and financial crime cases. In addition, culprits were fined a total of BD21m.
Ten cases remain under investigation and the rest have been shelved.
The Execution Court also received fines of BD4m in connection to criminal cases.
Meanwhile, human trafficking cases numbered 29 and six cases related to terrorism were sent to the Public Prosecution.
“There were also a 44 per cent reduction in the number of family-related cases filed at the Family and Child Prosecution, with 1,691 cases registered last year compared with 3,038 cases registered in 2020,” he added.
A total of 1,137 cases connected to the misuse of social media were also received by the Public Prosecution last year.
“Out of those, 537 were related to offences carried out through WhatsApp, 341 via Instagram, 102 in Snapchat, 93 through Facebook, 43 in Twitter and 21 violations through Tiktok,” he added.
Out of those, 28pc of the cases were heard by the courts, while 37pc were shelved due to the suspect being unknown to the authorities. Another 20pc were also dismissed due to a lack of evidence, while 14pc were settled outside of court. Eleven cases are still under investigation.
Details of how proceeding took place were also outlined during the media briefing. Out of the cases held in the courts, 873 were conducted remotely, via a screen erected in the court’s premises.
He added that conferences and workshops about the e-services being offered by the prosecution service will help increase the number of people sending online requests for case assistance.
Enforcement
A Special Investigations Unit, which was set up in 2012 to investigate allegations of police misconduct, registered 67 complaints last year which was the same as in 2020.
Dr Al Buainain also praised the Alternative Punishments Law in greatly benefiting law enforcement and the local communities.
He revealed that 5,510 defendants received non-custodial sentences. A total of 2,137 were given community service, 913 attended rehabilitation and training workshops, 1,083 were banned from specific locations, 761 agreed to not come into contact with their victims, 349 fixed the damage they had caused and 253 inmates received electronic bracelets to monitor their movements.
The law came into effect at the start of 2018 following directives issued by His Majesty King Hamad to expand alternative punishments.
Dr Al Buainain issued one red alert over cybercrimes which he said would be a ‘top priority’ of the Public Prosecution and plans were in place to set up a specialised department to tackle the growing concern.
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