RIYADH — The defendant No. 30 in the ring of the 32 people suspected of spying for Iran, a Saudi security man who is working in the Haj security forces, has been accused of grand treason. The attorney general has asked for capital punishment for him. The suspect, who stood before the Criminal Court on Tuesday, was charged with concealing the Iranian intelligence elements and his own brother the suspect No 7 and not informing the concerned authorities about them though he was well aware of their harmful intentions. He was accused of meeting with Iranian intelligence elements and informing them about the nature of his work as a military man responsible for the safety and security during the Haj season. He was also accused of not informing about the defendant No. 18 with whom he was closely connected. The defendant gave the judge two hand-written papers containing his reply to the charges against him but asked the judge not to consider them until they are legally written when he was able to meet his lawyer. The defendant No. 29, who also appeared before the court on Tuesday, was accused of cooperating with Iranian intelligence elements to enable them achieve their evil designs of undermining national security and dismantling social fabrics in the Kingdom. He was also accused of supplying these elements with security, social and economic data about the Kingdom, being behind the riots in Qatif and writing an inflammatory report against the Kingdom calling for demonstrations to spread chaos in the country. The three lawyers, who were appointed by the defendants, have been absent from the court since it started sessions early February. The court has so far held 15 sessions. The Criminal Court also sentenced a Syrian expatriate to eight years in prison for spying for the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad. He will be deported after completing his prison term. The 31-year-old Syrian was a barber in Makkah. He was caught in 2014 and convicted of spying for the Syrian regime. The court charged the defendant with supplying the Assad regime with data about Syrian expatriates in the Kingdom and circulating videos of operations of the Syrian army against its opponents. He was also accused of badmouthing the Kingdom, its rulers and the Saudi people. The court confiscated his computer and said his jail term would start from the date he was arrested about two years ago.
