RIYADH – The Special Penal Court in Riyadh on Wednesday convicted 12 members of the Group of 47 terrorist cell on various charges. They were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six years to 10 months from the date of their detention. All the defendants are also banned from traveling outside the Kingdom for a similar period after serving their prison sentences. The defendants have been given 30 days to appeal the verdict. The charges against them included incitement against the ruler, disobeying the ruler, traveling to places of conflict, possessing weapons without license to disturb public peace, promoting the Takfiri ideology, possessing banned books, writing books forbidding students from going abroad to study, criticizing the curricula, and warning parents against sending children to government schools. Some the defendants believed the government does not rule "according to what was revealed by God" and therefore it was not lawful to accept government jobs. They were also accused of supporting terrorist operations by describing the perpetrators as "mujahideen". Some of them were also charged with forging official identification documents. The court had earlier divided the 46 defendants into three groups to stand trial, and the second group was sentenced on Wednesday. The 12 defendants, some of their relatives and their lawyers attended the court session. — SG/SPA
