Bahrain: Court acquits man over technical glitch of e-bracelet

A man who was charged with violating mandatory self-quarantine at home was acquitted of all charges after the Lower Criminal Court ruled him innocent. 

Details of the case, according to the defendant’s lawyer, indicated that his client had to wear an electronic bracelet to follow his movements during house quarantine upon instructions by the Ministry of Health. 

He added that his client responded perfectly to the instructions, but he kept receiving repeated calls from the Ministry of Health to inform him that the signals provided by the bracelet indicated that he was outside his house when he was not.

The lawyer added that his client kept receiving the ministry’s calls warning him not to go out, but he assured them that he had not left the house and took pictures to prove it.

The defendant was surprised that he was referred to the Public Prosecution for violating mandatory quarantine. Despite denying charges during the investigations, he was referred to temporary detention. 

The Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Information and eGovernment Authority, later discovered that the bracelet was sending wrong signals showing that the defendant was outside his house.

The Ministry of Health and the Information and eGovernment Authority then corrected the technical error in the GPS system.

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