Ruling on Al-Turki’s transfer from US to Saudi jail delayed

A US court has delayed its ruling for 60 days following an appeal hearing for Saudi inmate Humaidan Al-Turki who is seeking to finish his eight-years-to-life sentence in a Saudi prison, his family said.
Al-Turki will be flown back to his confinement in Tucson, Arizona, said his brother Ahmad.
Al-Turki was sentenced in 2006 to life in prison after he was convicted of sexually assaulting his family housekeeper and holding her as a virtual slave for more than four years. But a judge reduced Al-Turki’s minimum sentence in 2011 by 20 years, based on a Colorado Supreme Court ruling.
Al-Turki denied the charges, saying he was a victim of anti-Muslim sentiment, inflamed by the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
Al-Turki’s supporters gathered at the Colorado court for emotional support after seeing Facebook and Twitter postings.
“We want to just support him emotionally and stand behind him,” Abdullah Albishri told Colorado 9News.
“I don’t know if he’s guilty or not, but all people in Saudi Arabia say he’s not guilty. So, we just came here to see that issue and support him as much as we could.”
UC-Denver student Abdullah Al-Mutairi told ABC 7News: “We got a lot of motivation from people in Saudi Arabia to ‘go to the court, give us the news and find out what’s going on.’ ”
Al-Turki returned to a Colorado court last week for closing arguments by his lawyers and by persecutors, who opposed the transfer. Meanwhile, Saudi officials have pledged to honor any terms imposed by the state of Colorado and provide effective supervision, Colorado media reports said.
Following his 2006 trial, Al-Turki requested that he be transferred to his home country to serve out the remainder of his sentence. That request was denied.