RIYADH, 17 November 2006 — Colorado Attorney General John Suthers met the relatives of a 37-year-old Saudi man convicted to 27 years in prison for imprisoning, sexually assaulting and stealing from his Indonesian maid.

Homaidan Al-Turki, a former Ph.D student at the University of Colorado, denies the sexual assault charges and has accused US officials of persecuting him for “traditional Muslim behaviors.”

Suthers met with Homaidan’s brother Ahmad ibn Ali Al-Turki and the family spokesman Fahd Al-Nasar on Wednesday.

Ahmad Al-Turki reiterated claims that his brother was forced to shave his beard after being taken into custody and his wife was forced to remove her hijab. Al-Turki’s family and others in the Kingdom believe that the Saudi man and his family were mistreated.

Suthers used the meeting to describe the US justice system and to clarify some matters, including how evidence was collected and presented in the case and how Al-Turki was found guilty of 12 counts of sexual assault, imprisonment, conspiracy to imprison, theft of the maid’s $150-a-month wages and extortion. The immigration charges (paying less than federal minimum wage, not reporting the salary to tax authorities, and employing a woman whose work visa was expired) were dropped after Al-Turki’s wife Sarah Al-Khonaizan paid $64,000 to the maid for four years of unpaid work.

A representative from the government-run Human Rights Commission Zaid Al-Hussein and a representative from the National Society for Human Rights Hamad Al-Majed were also present at the meeting held in the Conference Palace in Riyadh.

Zaid Al-Hussein of the Human Rights Commission said he visited the United States last month to express the concern of Saudis that Al-Turki and his family were treated unfairly, and how the outcome of the trial has had a negative impact on Saudis’ views about the US justice system.

He said he had been asked by Turki Al-Sudairy, secretary-general of the commission to visit the US.

Hamad Al-Majed also said that the public perception of bias in the case has been highlighted by the media’s coverage in the US and Saudi Arabia.

Al-Turki’s attorney John Richilano said in August when the sentence was announced that he intends to appeal the verdict, citing problems with jury selection, witness testimony and the admission of certain evidence.

In fact, Al-Turki was on an FBI watch list, just like thousands of other Arab nationals residing in the US on student or residency visas, and had been interviewed on numerous occasions before the maid-abuse charges came to light.

Al-Turki’s defense lawyer attempted to use this in his client’s defense, but the Colorado judge ruled it irrelevant to the charges. He also accused prosecutors of harassing Al-Turki’s wife while the judge did nothing.