Defendant Nos. 6, 7, 9, 10, 13 and 14 were being tried after four French tourists were murdered at a desert location 90 km north of Madinah in 2007. The tourists were attacked while returning from the historical site of Madain Saleh.

There are 14 men accused in the case on a total of 109 charges related to terror acts and sedition. Waleed Al-Radadi was the alleged mastermind of the attack.

The first three defendants are accused of being directly involved in the murder, while the remaining 11 are accused of setting up a terror cell and providing financial and logistical support to the murderers.

A defendant accused of providing money to another said he gave the money as a loan and not as an act of terror financing. He also denied an accusation that the gun police found in his possession was meant for any criminal purpose. He said he was keeping the gun as a favor to one of his friends and never intended to attack anyone with it.

Another defendant accused of traveling to Iraq to work with Al-Qaeda said he never traveled or intended to travel to the country. However, he said he went to Syria with the aim of visiting his relatives there.

A defendant accused of giving a CD containing material on Al-Radadi to another defendant said he did not have any criminal intentions when he passed it on.

Members of the Saudi Human Rights Commission and media were present at the hearing.

The seven charges against Defendant No.6 included offering material and moral support to Al-Radadi while he was running away from the law, concealing vital information from police, supporting the terror cell in its attacks against foreign citizens in the country, keeping firearms including a Kalashnikov with the aim of destabilizing security in the country in addition to using narcotic drugs.

The other five defendants’ charges included working with and collaborating with Al-Radadi in his terror operations and murders in addition to spreading deviant ideologies aimed at destabilizing the country.

The public prosecutor said a defendant’s denial of earlier confessions that had been endorsed officially should not be accepted.