LAWYERS will submit their final arguments next Tuesday on behalf of three Bahrainis appealing against 10-year jail sentences for allegedly kidnapping an officer, locking him in a bird cage and torturing him at a farm in Sanabis.

The court earlier heard the policeman needed counselling after his ordeal and the doctor who treated him said he suffered bouts of crying, sleep disorders, depression and anxiety.

The suspects include a clergyman who has been jailed for 96 years in connection with several cases connected to the unrest.

Lawyer Abdulla Al Asfoor told judges at the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court yesterday that his client simply owned the farm where the officer was held.

"My client should be acquitted," he said.

"He is a businessman and is not involved in politics. He does not know the defendant who is a clergyman." Mr Al Asfoor also claimed the victim's testimony should be discounted by the court since he suffered mental disorders. "The last time the victim came to testify he started crying and ran out of the court before taking the stand," he said. "He is clearly suffering from mental problems and earlier he couldn't identify my client in a police line-up."