The court heard the replies of the defendants, identified as Nos. 3, 6 and 8, to the accusations filed against them by prosecutors who claim the charges are based on the close observation of two groups. The first group faces the charges of collecting money and giving them to suspicious groups outside the Kingdom and the second group faces the charges of attempting to sow internal strife in Saudi Arabia. One of the 16 defendants is also accused of issuing a fatwa calling for young Saudis to wage jihad in troubled areas abroad.

Prosecutors said both groups held secret and closely guarded meetings. An undisclosed number of these defendants were arrested on Feb. 3, 2007, at a Jeddah rest house.

Each defendant faces a different mix of charges, but in addition to the primary ones listed above, charges also include defaming the Saudi judicial system in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of its judges; intervention in the internal affairs of countries abroad by illegal immigration with the help of foreign intelligence operatives in those countries; promoting Al-Qaeda and its ideologies inside the Kingdom; liaising with known Al-Qaeda militants, namely the late Abdul Aziz Al-Muqrin; and establishing contacts with Al-Qaeda operatives in Iraq. The charges also include providing financial support to Iraqi insurgents; establishing an organization called Project of the Generation to collect donations under false charitable pretenses; open support for Al-Qaeda terrorist acts inside the Kingdom and abroad; playing host to Al-Qaeda operatives and theologians that follow devious interpretations of the faith; supporting takfir ideology; disobedience to the crown; and adopting the ways of the Kharijites.

Suspect Nos. 4, 5 and 7 came to the court after they had been released on bail.

Spokesman for the Ministry of Justice Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Sadan said the court started hearing the defendants in its third, fourth, fifth and sixth sessions held between Oct. 6 and Oct. 9, 2010. He said most of them said they were unable to spend time with their lawyers to prepare their defenses and sought more time while some of them denied all the charges against them.

Al-Sadan said eight defendants with their lawyers attended the seventh session of the court held on Sept. 27, 2010 and claimed that they were not yet ready to respond to the charges.

He added that during its eighth and ninth sessions held on May 7-8, 2011, the defendants submitted their written replies ranging between 73 and 500 pages. They answered in the affirmative when the judge asked them if these were their correct answers except defendant No. 1 who said he had the right to change his answers.

The spokesman said in its 10th session held on May 9, 2011, eight of the defendants were given copies of the evidence against them to review and come up with answers within 10 days. The seventh defendant admitted that the evidence against him was correct but said he never meant to harm the country or its leadership. In this session, the judge asked the lawyer not to intervene and to let the defendants answer for themselves.