“We’ll make arrangements for the media to attend such trials
and will be coordinating with the ministry’s spokesman for this purpose,” he
said.
A special anti-terror court in Riyadh has so far issued
preliminary verdicts on 442 cases involving 765 suspected Al-Qaeda militants.
According to Abdullah Al-Saadan, the ministry’s spokesman,
the accused militants are facing charges such as being affiliated with
Al-Qaeda, funding terrorism and providing material support to terrorists.
The preliminary verdicts issued by the court ranged from
jail sentences for different terms to capital punishment. The sentences also
include fines, a ban on traveling abroad and house arrest in a city of the
criminal's choice. The accused have also been given the right to defend
themselves by appointing lawyers.
Al-Eissa denied suggestions that there is shortage of judges
in the Kingdom.
“Considering international standard, the number of judges in
Saudi Arabia is double the required number,” he pointed out.
He said the ministry sticks to a stringent standard while
selecting judges, adding that "regionalism or nepotism" does not play
a role in these selections.
Al-Eissa also denied that the judges were not following
their official working hours. “In fact they are the most prompt among the
government employees," he said.
The minister said the decisions taken by a committee at the
Ministry of Culture and Information on violation of laws on the dissemination
of information would be administrative. “People can approach the court if they
are not convinced by those decisions,” he added.
Al-Eissa said the court would have the right either to
endorse or nullify the committee’s decisions on the basis of evidence and
documents.
“The committee has solved hundreds of cases through
reconciliation,” he said.
The minister stressed the need for a judicial media
spokesperson. He also pointed out that the media are not allowed to publish
details about ongoing cases in the court system.
Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja affirmed
the close relation between the media and the judiciary, adding that they
complement each other.
The two-day conference is being attended by prominent
judicial experts and people from the media.
