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Saudi Arabia: 17-Year Combined Sentence for Al Qaeda Financier and Instigator | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat-The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s criminal court that specializes in national security crimes has handed out a 10 year sentence to a Saudi citizen suspected of financing Al Qaeda, along with a 7 year sentence for a Saudi citizen suspected of inciting others to fight for Al Qaeda, in two unrelated cases.

This is the first time that the secrecy surrounding the sentencing of Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist suspects has been lifted since the 12 May 2003 attacks that targeted residential compounds in Riyadh inhabited by westerns and Arabs.

An official at the Saudi Commission for Investigation and Prosecution also revealed this information during the “International Legal Framework for Combating Terrorist and its Financing Workshop” which was held in Riyadh and attended by the head of terrorist investigations at the US Justice Department, an FBI representative, as well as experts from the UN Office and Drugs and Crime, the European Commission, and the Arab League.

This information was revealed by Musaid al-Hamad, a member of the Saudi State Security, who also revealed that these cases were just two out of a total of 179 cases examined by the Saudi judiciary involving 330 people out of an original 991 individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activities in Saudi Arabia.

In these two cases, Riyadh utilized some rulings and regulations that can be used against defendants who have been referred to trial on crimes relating to arms smuggling, breach of national security, money laundering, possession of explosives, computer crimes related to terrorism, and other crimes relating to terrorist activity.