Bahrain plans to make sorcery a criminal offence

The practice of sorcery and witchcraft could be soon become a criminal offence in Bahrain, it was reported on Tuesday.

Shura Council officials approved the addition of a new article to the law outlawing sorcery and witchcraft, the Gulf Daily News reports.

This would allow judges to give additional weight to such cases brought to prosecution, councillors have claimed.

People found guilty of sorcery and witchcraft would face unspecified jail terms and undetermined fines or both, the paper reports.

However, some MPs have objected to the new law saying cases should be considered under the charges of embezzlement and cheating.

Sorcery is considered a crime in Saudi Arabia, where earlier this month Ali Hussein Subat, who is also called Shahrzad, 46, lost his appeal over an earlier death sentence after he was accused of practicing black magic.