RIYADH, 2 April 2005 — The trial of three detained Saudi reformists will reconvene today behind closed doors, their attorney said.
Ali Al-Demaini, Abdullah Al-Hamed and Matruk Al-Faleh, who have been held for over a year, “were informed on Tuesday that the hearing will take place on Saturday morning,” said lawyer Khaled Al-Mutairy.
He said the hearing would be held in camera as in earlier hearings.
The judge had adjourned the hearing for three weeks on March 12 following a request by the prosecutor for extra time to gather more evidence against the defendants.
Mutairy said he did not expect a verdict to be reached in today’s session which he thought would focus mostly on examining the prosecutor’s new evidence.
Demaini, Hamed and Faleh were arrested in March last year. They were charged with causing instability, collecting signatures for a petition and exploiting the Kingdom’s battle with Al-Qaeda terrorists for political gain.
The three, whose trial opened last August, are also accused of “using Western terminology” in demanding political reforms.
The defendants were among more than 10 activists arrested at the time. The others were released in the same month after signing undertakings that they would refrain from publicly criticizing the government.
The three reformists have refused to submit a defense to protest their court sessions being held mostly in private.
The three men have repeatedly called for an open trial. Last August during their first hearing, scores of supporters and relatives were allowed into the courtroom. But their trial was postponed after the judges ruled that the small courtroom could not accommodate the large number of onlookers.
