RIYADH — The Special Criminal Court in Riyadh sentenced on Sunday 97 militants in two separate cases. In the first case, 75 Saudis and a Yemeni national were sentenced to prison for periods ranging between 10 months and 20 years and a travel ban was imposed for various periods, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The charges against them include disobedience to the ruler by traveling to regions of conflicts to participate in fighting there, adopting Takfiri (deviant) ideology, reneging on their pledge of allegiance to the ruler by supporting the leader of Al-Qaeda in Yemen, smuggling wanted persons, terror funding and providing shelter to wanted terrorists. The Yemeni militant will deported after completing his jail term. In another case, the Special Criminal Court tried 22 Saudis, one Egyptian and one Somali national. It acquitted three militants and sentenced 21 others to prison for periods between one year and 27 years. They represented the fifth and last batch of the cell of 86. The charges against them included adopting Takfiri ideology, supporting terrorist acts that took place in the Kingdom, disobeying the ruler, possessing weapons, ammunition and bombs with the intention of disturbing the security and providing shelter to some terrorists. In both cases, the verdicts are appealable within 30 days from the date of receiving the judgement copy. Last Monday, the Special Criminal Court sentenced to death the man who gunned down an Irish cameraman.
