The lawyer representing terror suspects accused in the “Turki Al-Dandani cell of 85” remained absent from the court proceedings here on Wednesday. In his absence, the suspects had to submit replies to the charges against them in hand writing. Only four accused were present in the Special Penal Court for the day's proceedings. The lawyer of the 18th defendant denied all charges and maintained that his client's confessions were taken after false promises of getting him released. In reply to the charges leveled against defendant number 31, his lawyer contested the charges of treason, spying and his involvement in the planned terror attack on Prince Sultan Airbase in Al-Kharj. The lawyer refuted all other charges leveled against the accused by the prosecution. Replying to the lawyer's assertion, the Prosecutor General said there was enough circumstantial evidence against the defendant and his denial is only an after-thought. Accused number 82 and 83 presented their handwritten replies to the judge after their lawyer remained absent from the session. When the defendants asked the judge for the reasons why their case was being delayed, the judge said some of the defendants were late in submitting their replies to the charges. The “Turki Al-Dandani cell of 85” is accused of joining another cell that carried out terrorist attacks against three housing compounds in Riyadh in May 2003 that caused 239 casualties. The charges also include resisting security men and firing at them. The cell was also charged with planning terror attacks against military bases, industrial and oil installations and housing compounds.
