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JEDDAH: The specialized summary court will hold a fourth session Wednesday to try a Saudi academic accused of supporting Al-Qaeda.
He refused to attend three court sessions earlier, the last of them on Oct. 5, despite being officially informed about the time of the scheduled hearing.
Court sources said Tuesday that the defendant had agreed to attend the court session Wednesday, when he would be read out the list of charges against him compiled by the Prosecution and Investigation Commission (PIC).
Other sources, however, were not sure that the academic would attend the hearing. They said the academic would face routine disciplinary action if he again failed to respond to the court summons.
The sources told Arab News that the defendant, who had been in detention for more than four years, would be tried in absentia if he refused to appear before the court for a fourth time.
They said the accused was claiming to be a prisoner of conscience, while in fact he was a terrorist. He was arrested along with 11 other people 14 months after their botched attempt to blow up Al-Baqeeq oil refinery using two explosives-laden cars that entered the refinery premises through side doors.
According to the sources, the defendant was first detained in 1995 but was released in 2003. He was detained again in June 2007 and is still under detention.
The sources said the defendant claimed that he was a prisoner of conscience and posed as a reformist only to cover his terrorist actions and his connections to Al-Qaeda.
The court sources said under the court procedures, the judge has the discretion to order a trial in absentia if the defendant continued to abstain himself from the hearings without genuine reasons.
In this case, the court procedures give the defendant the right to appeal the verdict of such a trial in 30 days.
He refused to attend three court sessions earlier, the last of them on Oct. 5, despite being officially informed about the time of the scheduled hearing.
Court sources said Tuesday that the defendant had agreed to attend the court session Wednesday, when he would be read out the list of charges against him compiled by the Prosecution and Investigation Commission (PIC).
Other sources, however, were not sure that the academic would attend the hearing. They said the academic would face routine disciplinary action if he again failed to respond to the court summons.
The sources told Arab News that the defendant, who had been in detention for more than four years, would be tried in absentia if he refused to appear before the court for a fourth time.
They said the accused was claiming to be a prisoner of conscience, while in fact he was a terrorist. He was arrested along with 11 other people 14 months after their botched attempt to blow up Al-Baqeeq oil refinery using two explosives-laden cars that entered the refinery premises through side doors.
According to the sources, the defendant was first detained in 1995 but was released in 2003. He was detained again in June 2007 and is still under detention.
The sources said the defendant claimed that he was a prisoner of conscience and posed as a reformist only to cover his terrorist actions and his connections to Al-Qaeda.
The court sources said under the court procedures, the judge has the discretion to order a trial in absentia if the defendant continued to abstain himself from the hearings without genuine reasons.
In this case, the court procedures give the defendant the right to appeal the verdict of such a trial in 30 days.
