Al-Khafji terror cell member gets 13 years

The special criminal court in Riyadh sentenced yesterday a terror suspect to 13 years in prison. He has also been banned from traveling abroad for 13 years after serving his jail term.
The man belonged to the Al-Khafji terror cell whose 10 members were given a combined 80 years in prison and a travel ban for a total of 84 years.
The verdict was issued by the court on Tuesday. The court had not handed out the verdict against the 11th suspect (Defendant No. 4) because he was absent from the court.
The suspect was convicted of charges such as joining the terrorist cell to carry out attacks on US forces in Kuwait, meeting other members of the cell and leasing a house for the purpose, as well as charges of money laundering and illegal possession of arms and ammunition.
All the convicts have decided to appeal their verdicts while the public prosecutor will also approach the higher court seeking more stringent punishment. The court also ordered confiscation of all materials related with the charges leveled against them.

Two terror suspects released
A special criminal court trying terror suspects in Riyadh has released two suspects on the condition that they should appear in court in order to complete trial proceedings later.
The released suspects allegedly belonged to the 55-member cell headed by Saleh Al-Oufi, one of the most wanted terrorists.
The judge issued the order during a hearing involving five defendants after the public prosecutor read out charges against them.
The charges against the five (Defendant Nos. 51, 52, 53, 54 and 55) included giving shelter to a number of wanted terrorists, taking part in smuggling three terrorists out of the Kingdom to Yemen, forging passports and other documents, illegal possession of weapons and ammunition, association with Al-Oufi, and assaulting prison staffers.
The judge released Defendant Nos. 51 and 53 and asked them to attend trial proceedings whenever they take place.
The judge told the defendants that they have the right to appoint lawyers to defend themselves, and that the Justice Ministry would appoint representation if they were unable to afford legal costs. Four defendants replied that they would appoint lawyers for themselves while the fifth defendant said that he would defend himself without appointing any lawyers for himself. The trial was held in the presence of reporters and representatives of the Human Rights Commission.