330 guilty in Saudi Arabia’s 1st terror trial
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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A criminal court has issued verdicts in Saudi Arabia’s first known terrorism trial for accused Al Qaeda militants, the prosecution said yesterday.
The prosecution did not say what the verdicts were or how many people were tried, but Al-Arabiya TV quoted a Justice Ministry spokesman as saying 330 people were found guilty, including one who was given a death sentence.
Saudi Arabia has pursued an aggressive campaign against militants since May 2003, when they first began attacks in the kingdom, which is Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s birthplace and home to 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers. The network’s attacks have targeted expatriate residential compounds, oil installations, and government buildings.
The first known legal proceedings did not start until last year, however.
In a statement, a spokesman for the Bureau of Investigation and General Prosecution said an unspecified number of detainees were put on trial. He did not say when the trials began.
The defendants were accused of being members of a “deviant group,’’ supporting and financing terrorism, going to areas of conflict to fight, and coordinating and communicating with external parties that seek to conspire against national security by creating chaos and disrupting security, the spokesman said.
