The criminal court in Riyadh has begun the trial of a 45-member terrorist cell, including the leader of Daesh (so called IS) outfit in the Kingdom as well as two women — a Saudi and a Filipino.
The public prosecution pleaded for the death penalty for 23 defendants, including the Filipino, out of 32 defendants who appeared for the trial.
The trial, which was in four sessions, began in the presence of three judges and the public prosecutor. At the session, the leader of Daesh made a verbal attack on the judge, describing him as an evil figure and threatened to kill him if he could get out of the cell.
Subsequently the judge ordered to evict him out of the court when he failed several times to make the defendant stay quiet.
Of the total 45 defendants, only 32 attended while some of the remaining could not make it while some others refused to appear. After completing the hearings, the judge ordered the prosecutor to read the list of charges and hand over them to the defendants so that they can respond to the charges against them.
The charges against the Daesh leader — defendant No. 23 — include running terrorist operations and ordering Daesh operatives to implement his directives; agreeing with the leaders of Daesh outside Saudi Arabia to take over the affairs of the outfit and its elements within the Kingdom; arranging hideouts, money and weapons; training Daesh members in making explosive belts; hiding weapons and explosives; and agreeing with a drug trafficker to smuggle 500 kilograms of TNT into Saudi Arabia.
The charges also include smuggling in of an anti-tank missile through the Suwaif border point in northern Arar region in order to target the Ministry of Interior; coordination with one of the Daesh members to establish a factory for the manufacture of explosive materials in the Qassim region; and authorizing another member to take charge of the affairs of Daesh in the Kingdom’s north.
He is also accused of participating along with his members in the killing of the director of the secret investigation wing in Al-Quwaieya as well as in the bombing of the training center of the emergency forces in Abha, and in the attacks on mosques in Najran and Al-Ahsa in addition to the Suwaif border point.
He is also accused of helping to target Al-Sadiq Mosque in Kuwait, where the defendant carried an explosive belt from one of the provinces of Saudi Arabia and delivered it to the bomber, who carried out the suicide attack, killing 27 people.
The cell members who are under trial include those who were smugglers and manufactures of explosives; those who shot at security men; those who continue contacts with Daesh through social networking sites, and those abusing hashish and drug pills, and another who used his wife and children as cover in front of security men and at security checkpoints.
The terror cell includes one Saudi woman, who was accused of assisting her husband, a cell member, in transporting explosive belts and covering him up in front of security men. The Filipino is the wife of another cell member who, together with her husband, manufactured explosive belts and carried weapons.
The prosecutor pleaded death penalty for 23 defendants, including the Filipino, and to award maximum sentence of imprisonment for other defendants, in addition to imposing travel ban and fines.
SOURCE : SAUDIGAZETTE
