OTTAWA, 18 February — The Saudi Embassy in Ottawa launched a public relations drive on Friday to assure Canadians that three Westerners, including a Canadian, who publicly admitted their roles in a murder and bombings in Riyadh last November will get a fair trial.
Saudi Ambassador Muhammad Al-Hussaini issued a press release explaining the justice system in the Kingdom.
Al-Hussaini disputed some published reports suggesting that the Canadian accused of murder, William Sampson, had been denied access to Canadian consular officials.
"Mr. William Sampson, a Canadian linked to the explosions, had already access (more than once) to consular officials from the Canadian Embassy in Riyadh who reported Mr. Sampson is being treated well and is in good health and spirits," said the ambassador.
The ambassador also rejected published suggestions that Sampson and his British and Belgian co-defendants may have been tortured or otherwise coerced into making confessions.
"All those who are involved in the bombings will get a fair trial and if they are innocent, they have nothing to fear," wrote the ambassador.
"I would once again assert that at no stage would the judicial system in Saudi Arabia pay any attention to any confessions unless they are given free and voluntarily in front of the court."
Sampson and his co-defendants, who all confessed on Saudi
television to their roles in the bombings and murder, could face public beheading if found guilty.
