MANAMA — A criminal court in Bahrain has handed down a one-year jail term and a fine of 5,000 Bahraini dirhams (SR50,000 approximately) against a suspect who failed to implement the mandatory precautionary health measures related to restaurants and sheesha cafés, the Bahrain News Agency reported on Friday. The defendant was referred to the court for exceeding the tolerated number at gatherings, and non-commitment to the health measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, the chief prosecutor at the ministries' prosecution in Bahrain announced that the public prosecution has received 13 notifications from the Public Health Directorate at the Ministry of Health, reporting the violations of a number of restaurants and cafés of the precautionary health measures in force to limit and prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus on the New Year celebrations. The outlets violated the social distancing measures while holding New Year celebrations, including non-commitment to the distance between tables, the existence of more than 30 persons indoors, non-commitment to the numbers for each table, and use of multi-use shisha hoses. All the violating restaurants and cafés were closed, and the issue was referred to the public prosecution. The public prosecution investigated the cases, and remanded one of the suspects in custody, pending investigation due to his grave violations, including the holding of a celebration in which more than 200 persons gathered. The same café was sanctioned before for violating the enforced measures to combat COVID-19. A total of 13 suspects and 10 outlets were referred to the relevant Lower Criminal Court which issued verdicts regarding them, including fines ranging between 1,000 Bahraini dirhams and 5,000 Bahraini dirhams, and a one-year jail term against the remanded defendant, with immediate effect. The public prosecution urged all the relevant authorities to step up their cooperation in order to combat the pandemic and limit its spread, pledging zero-tolerance against violators of the mandatory health measures.
