Follow up of Al-Nemer’s Prosecution, the
4th Trial session
European Saudi Society for Human Rights
17/04/2014
The forth
trial of Sheikh Nemer Al-Nimr was held up 15/04/2014, who has been detained in
solitary confinement since 8 July 2012 in the Security Forces Hospital in
Riyadh, which is under the Ministry of the Interior.
Today's trial
is held up after three previous trials, scheduled irregularly, as follows:
|
Order
|
Date
|
Timetable
|
Note
|
|
1st Trial
|
25/03/2013
|
Took place 260 days after of detention
|
Faced 33 charges by the public prosecutor,
and demands death penalty
|
|
2nd Trial
|
29/04/2013
|
After
35 days of the 1st trial
|
Public
prosecution did not submit a copy of list to the defense, therefore, the defense
could not respond to the charges and the trial ended without scheduling a
specific date of the 3rd trial
|
|
3rd Trial
|
23/12/2013
|
After 238 days of the 2nd trial
|
One day
before the hearing, the lawyer explained that Sheikh Al-Nemer did not get a
pen and paper to write a response to the charges. The meeting lasted 5
minutes and ended without scheduling a specific date of the 4th
trial
|
|
4th Trial
|
15/04/2014
|
After 113
days of the 3rd trial
|
The lawyer was surprisingly informed one
day before the trial, where he was attending a court hearing of his client,
Sheikh Tawfiq Al-Amer at the Specialized Criminal Court on Monday 14/04/2014.
The meeting lasted about an hour and ended
without scheduling a specific date of the next trial
|
The trial that
was dedicated to submit the defense’s responses against the public prosecution
charges, which includes “his belief of illegitimacy the Saudi regime; his
disloyalty to the House of Al Saud in his Friday Khutbah[1]
on 02/10/2011 and describing Gulf rulers as unjust in Friday Khutbah on 20/01/2012”,
Sheikh Al-Nemer rejected to submit the response that was written by his attorney
Dr. Sadek Mohamed Al-Jubran due to “not appropriately covering and
addressing everything” stated in the list of public prosecution (which is
incorrect), according to Sheikh Al-Nemer respond.
On the 3rd
trail, Sheikh Al-Nemer asked for a pen and paper to write his responses, but it
was not provided since the beginning of the trails, except one time after the 3rd
trail where he was allowed but only until the end of the working time of the
court. As a result, it was not enough to respond to all the charges presented
by the public prosecutor.
“The
accused and their counsel, if any, must be given adequate time and facilities
to prepare the defense. Further, the accused must be given opportunities equal
to that of the prosecution to present a case”[2], Amnesty International Fair Trials Manual.
A state staff
of Human Rights and a number of journalists of official media attended the
trail, along with Sheikh Al-Nemer’s lawyer Dr. Al-Jubran and his brother Jaffer.
The official
media representatives have been bias since the beginning of covering course the
trial of Sheikh Al-Nemer. For instance, and during the 4th trail, “the trial was
postponed for the four times to wait for the accused’s response, due his
excuses and arguments to delay, but the judge required him to submit his defense
against the charges in the next trail” the journalist stated that the delay is due to “waiting
for the accused’s response against the charges”, plus stating that Sheikh
Al-Nemer “was in an armed confrontation against the security force in Awamia[3]”.
Sheikh Al-Nemer prosecution process is in its
four trials, where he has been detained over 386 days. This is a severe delay
of prosecution based on international standards of a fair trial, at the time where
the public prosecution is still demanding the death penalty for Sheikh Al-Nemer. This penalty
is based on Sheikh Al-Nemer’s
demands calling for the release of arbitrary detained Sunni and Shia citizens,
demands of justice; and criticizing domestic political issues in his Friday
Khutbah.
[1]
Wikipidia: Khutbah (Arabic: sermon khuṭbah) serves as the primary formal
occasion for public preaching in the Islamic tradition
[2] Amnesty
International Fair Trials Manual, P. 119
[3] Al
Riyadh Newspaper: “For the fourth time: accused of sectarian violence asked
to postpone his trial” www.alriyadh.com/927340
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