The defendants said preachers who previously prohibited people from watching TV channels are now competing with one another to appear on TV to make money.
They refuted claims that all military camps in Afghanistan belonged to Al-Qaeda or linked with the terrorist organization’s late leader Osama Bin Laden. They reiterated their allegiance to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
The court heard the replies of Defendant Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 to the charges made against them by the public prosecutor. Two of them requested the court to give them more time to provide a reply, a request that was granted.
Defendant No. 7 replied to the charges by himself while an appointed lawyer spoke on behalf of Defendant Nos. 9 and 10. The five defendants requested the court to release them on bail and lessen their punishments as they were dragged into those activities as a result of their young age and ignorance.
One of the defendants told the court that he did not know the meaning of violating his allegiance to the ruler and Kharijites before entering the prison. Another militant said he did not know that King Abdullah was the wali al-amr (ruler). He thought it was his father.
Another defendant, who had worked as a security officer, said he never thought his friendship and dinner with one of the militants on the list of 85 would result in facing charges such as going against the ruler and resisting police.
“A member of the Dandani cell invited me for dinner in Thumama and at that time I was working as a vegetable vendor and he used to visit my vegetable shop after I resigned from the military. When I met him in Thumama for dinner I saw people holding weapons and involved in terrorist cases,” one defendant told the court.
Another defendant said his only relation with Saleh Al-Aufi, a notorious terrorist, was that he happened to be his neighbor in Madinah. In his reply to the charges, one of the five defendants said he did not know anything about Al-Qaeda before being sent to prison.
One defendant said he had contacted his mother after he saw a gunbattle at the Roshan furnished flats where he had gone for dinner. She then asked him to surrender to police and give evidence to prove that he had no connection with the terrorist organization.
