The Specialized Criminal Court started trial of 55 defendants, 54 Saudis and one Yemeni. The General Prosecution accused them of joining a terrorist cell inside the country belonging to al Qaeda terrorist organization led by Salih Al-Awfi. They were also accused of conspiring to carry out a number of criminal roles to implement the schemes of the cell which included the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, hostage-taking in it, using them as human shields, resisting the security forces by opening fire and throwing grenades at them, beginning to implement terrorist operations to kidnap or assassinate officials and security men and foreigners, targeting security and oil installations, hijacking civilian aircraft and other terrorism-related charges. The criminal court began the trial yesterday and continued today. Defendants and Representatives of the Human Rights Commission attended the trial. The hearing judge did not allow the presence of media reporters at the request of the defendants.
