"The case has not reached the court. It is not within
our specialty. Maybe it has gone to another court. The sure thing is that we
have not endorsed or documented the repentance," he said.
Kashghari is currently being detained in Al-Hair prison in
Riyadh for his slanderous tweets against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him). Local media reports on Thursday claimed that the 23-year-old
Kashghari, who is a writer and columnist, had formally repented before the
summary court in Riyadh on Tuesday during a session that was also attended by
his father, mother, brothers and lawyer.
Kashghari fled the country after making the insulting
comments against Islam and the Prophet on Twitter but was detained in Malaysia
and deported to the Kingdom on instructions of Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosques King Abdullah. He was flown to Riyadh airport on board a special plane.
He has been in prison since then.
Abdul Rahman Allahim, Kashghari's lawyer refused to deny or
confirm the reports but a legal source said the case was not the concern of a
summary court but a general court, which did not issue any comment on the case.
The source said the case would be subject to the normal
procedures of criminal cases that usually start with the arrest of the
criminal, questioning at the Prosecution and Investigation Commission (PIC) and
finally sending the person to court.
Former Deputy Chairman of the National Committee of Lawyers
Sultan bin Zahim, who is a legal consultant, said the case would set a
precedent in the Kingdom's judicial history and said it was being tackled by
the PIC.
He said the judge in the case would ask the defendant to
repent and would accept his repentance and give him a formal document to the
effect when he was sure that the defendant was sincere and his intentions were
good. "This, however, does not relieve the accused from the discretionary
punishment which the judge will decide after carefully studying the case,"
he said.
The legal consultant said the court ruling would be used if
the defendant retracted his repentance. "In this case the accused will
face capital punishment according to the Shariah rules," he explained.
