The First High Criminal Court of Appeal has reduced the sentences of an employee of the Ministry of Education and two Asian defendants convicted of forging school invoices and embezzling public funds exceeding BD5,000, citing grounds for leniency. The court amended the original ruling by sentencing the first defendant, a Ministry of Education employee, to one year in prison, fining him BD1,570.900, and ordering him to return the same amount. The second and third defendants were each sentenced to six months in prison, with their fines and repayment of embezzled amounts upheld. The court also cancelled the deportation orders issued against them. In the original verdict, the first defendant had been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, fined and ordered to repay BD5,448, while the second and third defendants were sentenced to one year in prison each, fined and ordered to repay BD1,661, and permanently deported after serving their sentences. In its reasoning, the Court of Appeal said it applied Article 72 of the Penal Code to show leniency, noting that the second and third defendants had lived in Bahrain for many years without serious criminal records. The court added that the offences did not pose a serious threat to national […]