At the end of February and early March, several of the estimated 20 defence lawyers involved in the trials were interviewed by the foreign media. Shortly thereafter, all of them were summoned by the Minister of Justice and reportedly warned that dissemination of any information about the trials would not be tolerated and that they would face consequences if they failed to comply with his directive. This clearly shows that the government is intent on keeping a very tight lid on information pertaining to the conduct of these trials, Amnesty International said. The main defendants in the case are charged with conspiring with a foreign state to carry out acts hostile to Bahrain under Article 122 of the Penal Code, an offence punishable by death. They are also charged, together with most of the other defendants, with membership of an organization whose aim is to overthrow by force the political, social or economic system of the state under Article 159 of the Penal Code and which is punishable by up to life imprisonment.
Some defendants also face charges relating to the illegal possession of firearms.
The Bahraini Government claimed that the defendants are members of the military wing of a prohibited organization, Hizbullah -Bahrain, said to be based in Tehran and assisted financially and militarily by Iran. Its alleged aim is the establishment, by violent means, of an Islamic republic in Bahrain loyal to Iran. Some of the main defendants in the case are charged with having contact with intelligence officials within Irans Revolutionary Guards and to have received military training both in Iran and in Hizbullah camps in Lebanon. Most of the 59 defendants were arrested at various times in early 1996, and on 3 June the Bahraini Government announced that a coup plot had been uncovered. Two days later, the confessions of some of them were broadcast on Bahraini television.