JEDDAH, 3 April 2005 — The trial of three reformists was adjourned yesterday for 20 days following a request by the prosecutor for more time to produce evidence.
The request to reconvene on April 23 was made during a closed-door court session, according to Saleh Al-Khathlan, who represented the National Society for Human Rights at the hearing.
The trial of Ali Al-Demaini, Abdullah Al-Hamed and Matruk Al-Faleh, who have been held for more than a year, was adjourned twice before following a similar request by the prosecutor.
“We believe that such a delay is not necessary... All evidence should be available bearing in mind that the defendants were arrested more than a year ago,” Khathlan told reporters outside the court.
Demaini, Hamed and Faleh were arrested on March 16 last year.
The three have repeatedly refused to respond to the charges against them until the trial is made open to the public but Demaini decided yesterday to present more than 25 pages in his defense, a relative said.
Demaini decided to speak because he felt that the proceedings had “hit a brick wall”, following the judge’s decision not to admit the public, the relative said.
“I do not want my demands for reform to be reduced to a mere request for an open trial,” Demaini told the judicial panel, according to the relative.
Khathlan said Demaini addressed the panel for an hour and a half and that he argued his activities “were all within the framework of calling for reform” in the Kingdom.
Faleh and Hamed, meanwhile, maintained they would not respond to the charges, at least until the trial is opened “to representatives of the media,” relatives said.
