The Specialist Penal Court has continued the trial against 85 men charged with carrying out the 2003 terrorist attacks against three housing compounds in Riyadh. The attack led to 239 innocent men, women and children being killed or injured. They also face charges including shooting two security men and planning attacks on military bases, industrial and oil installations and other housing compounds. A key part of the prosecutor general's case against the men rests on confessions they have made which were attested under Shariah. However, in today's session which was attended by 21 defendants, a number of them insisted that these confessions were made under duress or out of fear of investigators. According to official reports, the 71st and 79th defendants denied their earlier confessions which were attested in the Shariah Court, saying they were extracted under duress. The lawyer for the 77th defendant presented a denial of all charges against his client except those he had admitted in his reply, saying that he confessed under duress. The 80th defendant presented his written reply through his lawyer, who admitted that what was attested to earlier was true except for the last 10 lines of his confession. He said his client said the statements were taken from him under duress by the investigator. The 85th defendant personally presented a memo denying the charges against him, saying, “They have been reworded by the investigator and they were extracted from me under duress.” Despite the large number of defendants who have retracted their confessions, the Prosecutor General stuck to all the charges directed against them and stressed that they were true. Meanwhile, a number of other defendants have admitted their culpability in the terrorist attacks. The 68th defendant admitted that his attested confessions were true. However, he justified not reporting his brother (the 69th defendant) on the grounds that it went against Arab customs and traditions. He and his brother then requested that the court assign their nephew to plead for them and to follow up the case. In other matters, the court agreed to grant the 76th and 83rd defendants a grace period to submit their replies while other defendants gave their replies to the charges directed against them. The court session was attended by relatives of some of the accused and representatives of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and the local media.
