All defendants in terrorism cases are to be tried at the General Court in Riyadh and will give their testimonies via live telecast, informed sources said on Wednesday. Court clerks who have been assigned to work with the appointed judges will register suspects' confessions while they are broadcast live on special screens. The clerks will receive a 40 percent salary increase for the duration of the trials, with sources describing their work as “requiring the utmost concentration and accuracy.” The Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Judiciary Council have selected ten judges to try the suspects who are accused of involvement in the five Riyadh explosions in 2003, and instigation and financing of terrorist activities. The trials will be conducted within the normal regulations of the Kingdom's judiciary system, giving defendants the right to defense lawyers and the right to appeal. Last October, Saudi Arabia laid charges against 991 suspects linked to Al-Qaeda, which authorities said has carried out more than 30 attacks in the Kingdom against government buildings, oil refineries, and Saudi citizens. Authorities announced a massive anti-terror sweep that netted more than 500 members of a purported Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist cell allegedly planning attacks on Saudi targets, including major oil installations. It was the largest number of arrests of terror suspects announced by Saudi authorities. In November 2007, Saudi authorities announced they had recently netted more than 200 Saudi and foreign militants involved in six terrorist cells that were plotting to attack an oil support facility, to assassinate clerics and security forces and to smuggle weapons into the country. Interpol last month issued a global security alert for 83 Saudi nationals and two Yemenis described as highly dangerous and suspected of plotting terror attacks against Saudi Arabia. It was the first time that the world police organization had issued a so-called “Orange notice” for such a large group of suspects. The men are wanted in Saudi Arabia on terrorism-related charges, including links to Al-Qaeda in the Kingdom, Iraq and Afghanistan, said an Interpol statement issued at its headquarters in Lyon, central France. They are described as “highly dangerous” and “could be armed, violent and suicidal,” according to the security alert. The 85 men, most of whom are aged between 20 and 35, are suspected of having left Saudi Arabia, probably for Iraq or Afghanistan. Saudi authorities maintain that the men's whereabouts were unknown but that the alert “will put some pressure on them to limit their movements.”
