JEDDAH: Nine hundred and ninety one suspected Al-Qaeda militants, arrested in connection with over 30 terror attacks since 2003, are to stand trial.
A statement from Interior Minister Prince Naif said charges have been laid against the suspects, who have been handed to the courts to be tried. More terror suspects are to face trials as soon as investigations are completed, the Saudi Press Agency quoted the statement as saying early yesterday. “Saudi Arabia has faced in recent years an organized terrorist campaign that struck at society, its way of life and the economy ... and it was directly linked to the organization called Al-Qaeda,” the statement said.
Prince Naif said that the “criminal murderers”, apart from labeling the Saudi society as infidels, have carried out more than 30 terror attacks that targeted the country’s way of life, it citizens, residents, security officers and national resources.
A panel of appointed judges on Monday received documents presented by the prosecution, though the actual hearings have not yet begun.
The panel will begin reviewing individual cases against the detainees. The hearings are expected to begin soon, though no date has been set. Six judges out of the 12-member panel have started reviewing the cases.
Prince Naif described the various crimes of bombing, kidnapping and terrorizing people in the Kingdom as crimes of “Haraba” — a Qur’anic term defined as “sowing corruption and chaos on earth”, and is considered one of the most grievous crimes for which punishments up to death have been set out in the Shariah.
