On the three Saudi reformers imprisonment
Saudi Arabia-USA, Politics, 6/22/2005

The US secretary of state Condaleezza Rice said she raised during her talks in Saudi Arabia the issue of sentences against three opposition reformers who signed a petition together with other ten calling for constitutional reforms, noting that her country follows up the case closely.

Thereby, Rice was referring to imprisonment cases ranging between 6 to nine years issued by one Saudi court on May 15 against the three activists Ali al-Dumeini, Abdullah al-Hamid and Matrouk al-Faleh.

For his part, foreign minister prince Saud al-Faisal stressed that he had notified Rice that the three men violated the law and that their fate is now in the hands of the Saudi judiciary "which is not permitted to interfere in its affairs." The three men are accused of "provoking sectarianism and violating the orders of the ruler in the Kingdom" by calling for the "establishment of a constitutional monarchy and using strange idioms in their requests to introduce political changes in the Kingdom," according to the representatives of the attorney general.

Lawyers of the three opposition men are still working to appeal for sentences issued against them. It was due that they had filed the appeal request to the court of cassation on Tuesday, which is not the same court which issued previous verdicts.

The defendant commission expressed optimism that the appeal will be in the interest of the accused men because other judges will decide on the case after accepting the appeal.

The three said activists were in a group of 116 persons who filed a petition in December 2003 to senior Saudi officials calling for comprehensive constitutional reforms that ensures people's participation via an elected parliament that recognizes the political, cultural, economic and social rights of citizens and instituting a seperation between the three governmental authorities.

Previous Stories:
  Rice calls to democratic change in the region, criticizes Saudi Arabia   (6/21/2005)
  US congress opposes Riyadh joining WTO   (5/27/2005)
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