Ahmad Abdullah Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – Eight people accused of aiding and abetting prisoners who ran away from Al-Kharj Intelligence Prison appeared Tuesday morning before the Riyadh Court of Appeals. They allegedly belonged to the Al-Nakheel Cell. The public prosecutor also charged them with having links to some Al-Qaeda members, supporting Osama Bin Laden, possessing machine guns, providing a shelter to runaway prisoners, plotting to kidnap some intelligence officers, and falsifying passports to flee the country. One of the defendants was charged with helping Abdullah Hassan Al-Asiri, who was killed by security officers and who carried out an assassination attempt on the life of Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, the current Interior Minister, in September 2009 and hiding runaway prisoners in his house for 25 days. The court also looked into the statements made by seven people allegedly belonging to the 50-member cell in response to the charges leveled at them. Two of the accused could not finish their defense statements on time and the judge had to adjourn the case to allow them time to submit their cases. The sessions were attended by a representative from the Human Rights Commission and the media.
