Washington,Asharq Al-Awsat- The Colorado judge presiding over the case against Homaidan Al-Turki has refused to drop charges against the 36-year-old linguistics student.
Al-Turki is accused by his former Indonesian Nanny of being held against her will and being sexually abused.
According to sources, District Judge Marylin Leonard made her decision to continue considering the case and not to drop any of Al-Turki”s charges after hearing testimony from the prosecution.
Local authorities had released Al-Turki on a 50 thousand dollar bond, but had placed the accused under house arrest until the end of his trial.
Lawyers for Al-Turki are planning to file a motion to transfer the case to another judge, claiming Judge Leonard was acting on government pressure not to drop the charges against Al-Turki.
According to a local Colorado Newspaper, "Both Al-Turki and his wife, Sarah Khonaizan, 36, face federal charges of forced labor, document servitude and harboring an illegal immigrant. They are accused of underpaying the woman for her services.
Al-Turki and his wife are scheduled to be arraigned in November, but lawyers have said that Khonaizan may be working on a plea deal with the prosecution. Lawyer Richilano said Al-Turki would plead not guilty.
Al-Turki, a graduate student in linguistics at the University of Colorado, brought his wife, five children and the nanny to Colorado in 2000.
In 2003, another Saudi Student was arrested and tired for developing terrorist websites. 34-year-old Sami Al-Hassan spent two years in prison, but was released after several charges against him were dropped.