The judge allowed the six defendants (Nos. 8, 12, 16, 17, 28 and 36), who were facing trial on Tuesday time to read their reply statements and confession documents.

The major charges among the 117 against the six defendants include accusations that they worked for Al-Qaeda, traveled to Afghanistan, possessed weapons to kill policemen and collection of money for financing terrorists.

A judge asked a defendant whether it was true that he met with the other suspects in Afghanistan as stated in his confessions. The defendant said he did not meet any of them.

He also denied that police seized a bag with forged passports and a large sum of money from him. He also denied that he was taken to the police by his father, adding he surrendered to authorities on his own accord. Regarding the reason for his travel to Afghanistan, the defendant said it was because he was inspired by the fatwas some religious scholars had issued encouraging people to travel outside the Kingdom.

The public prosecutor, when asked by the judge to make his statement on the defendant’s denial of the recorded confession, said the original confession was true and should be taken as valid evidence. The prosecutor also told the judge that if the defendants claim that they were coerced to make confessions, they should bring evidence to prove it.

A representative of the Saudi Human Rights Commission and reporters were present at the hearing.

The Riyadh bombing in 2003 killed and injured about 240 people. The victims included women and children apart from security officers.