One of the three letters appeared to be addressed to him by the interior minister of Jordan, the second from the secretary general of the Makkah-based Muslim World League (MWL) and the third sent by him to television satellite channel in a GCC country.
“These three letters are enough proof that I am not a terrorist,” the accused, identified as Defendant No. 1, told the judge in the case.
The suspect alleged that the first letter was sent to him by the incumbent secretary general of the MWL Dr. Abdullah bin Abdul Mohsen Al-Turki on June 15, 2006.
He said Al-Turki told him in the letter that a number of people approached the MWL to set up an information center that would collect and analyze information about current Islamic issues and circulate them among Muslim media for publishing.
He claimed that Al-Turki solicited his opinion in the project and invited him to join the founders.
“This letter proves that I am not a believer in any terrorist ideology. The secretary general knows me personally. Al-Turki is also the chairman of the International Authority to Present Islam. I am a member of the board of directors of this authority,” he said.
The second letter was allegedly sent to the accused by the acting interior minister in Jordan on June 27, 2003.
He said the letter was addressed to the charity organization he had established under the name “Help the Needy.”
He said in his letter, the minister gave permission to his organization to work in Jordan on a temporary basis provided that it was committed to the country’s laws and regulations.
“This letter from Jordan proves that my work was not undercover. I requested a license and I got it. My work was supervised by the Jordanian security organizations. How can I be a terrorist in this case?” he asked.
The third letter, four pages, was sent by the suspect to the head of programming at Al-Shariqa channel in the UAE.
He said he informed the channel about a program he intended to present called “Project of the Generation.”
“This letter is enough proof that the project was focusing on administrative and technical training in human sciences for the youth. The program was approved by Britain,” he said.
The judge asked the prosecutor general to respond to the defendant’s claims.
The prosecutor said the accused obtained licenses for his work from foreign countries instead of from his own country.
The court held its 29th session at 9.30 a.m. Tuesday which was attended by defendant Nos. 1, 6, 8 and 10.
The judge told the court that No. 6, a university professor, denied all evidence provided by the prosecutor-general.
When the judge told him that he had attended a meeting of the cell to plan for a new constitution in place of the country’s current framework based on the Qur’an and Islamic teachings, the defendant responded he had only attended the organization’s third meeting for 45 minutes on the insistence of one of his co-defendants.
He said the meeting was aimed at discussing the establishment of civil societies to implement reforms.
“I was hoping for the establishment of a human rights commission which did not exist at the time,” he told the court.
When the judge asked him if society had asked him to establish such organizations, the defendant replied that he did not need authorization.
He said he was suffering from diabetes and alleged that his confessions were obtained under duress.
The defendant asked the judge to give him time to eat a sandwich as it was his mealtime and was allowed 20 minutes, which he also used to get his medicine.
Defendant No. 8, aggressively presented his defense in a 44-page document, which he said was only partially complete. He said he was not read the entire list of charges.
The judge gave him one hour to rectify this and complete his document but he turned down the offer.
The judge also told him that he had every right to respond to any of the charges against him and could object to any evidence against him.
The defendant claimed that he was subjected to various torture methods in his cell, including leaving the lights on for the entire night, not being given a mattress to sleep on and being woken up late at night for questioning.
He and defendant No. 6 admitted that they were not beaten up during the investigations.
The defendant finally agreed that his confessions were correct but maintained the methods used to obtain them were not.
The court adjourned for Zuhr prayer and when it reconvened, the judge discussed with defendant No. 10 some of his confessions.
The accused submitted a written affidavit and asked the judge to attach it to the minutes of the case.
The prime defendant continued his antagonistic attitude toward reporters, describing them as liars and hypocrites.
The judge pointed out to him that the defendants themselves demanded the sessions to be open.
“Yes we have done that but we have the right to select honest media men,” he said.
He also said he could not find a lawyer to defend him as he was not allow to make contact with any of them.
The judge said he would investigate these claims and adjourned the session to be held at another time to be fixed later.
