JEDDAH: Sources in the judiciary have said that the Appeals Court penal circuit tasked with cases of terrorism has looked into 325 cases after the attorney general gave them the right to appeal. Defendants were given 30 days to object to their sentences from the date of receiving a copy of their verdicts.The sources said that appealed rulings varied between sentences of execution and prison of between six months and 30 years. Other verdicts entailed fines, travel bans, and temporary house arrest in the city of the defendant's choice. They said that verdicts required approval from the Appeals Court followed by the Supreme Court, before being put to the King for final approval. Sources at the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution (BIP) earlier said that persons facing trial on charges of threatening state security will be treated in accordance with the law and that there will be “no exceptional laws for them during trial”. The sources said that all verdicts are subject to objection and appeal, and that all defendants have access to a lawyer, as stipulated by law. “Trials of persons accused in terrorism cases are conducted by one judge or a judicial circuit of three judges, depending on the charges brought by the attorney general and the sentence sought,” they said. They added that there are in this current year 12 judges looking into such cases, their tasks distributed over several circuits, while a team of prosecutors from the BIP draw up accusations. “The attorney general continues to bring accusations against Saudis and foreigners involved in terrorism cases, their roles varying between taking part in smuggling, making and preparing explosives and harboring persons carrying out acts of terrorism, and financing terrorism and inciting to terrorism,” the sources said. The Ministry of Justice said last Saturday that the Penal Court tasked with cases related to “the deviant group and plots against national security” had by the end of last year heard and reached initial verdicts in a total of 442 cases involving 765 individuals. 325 cases had gone to appeal.
