Saudi convicts 38 people on terrorism-related charges

A Saudi Arabian court convicted 38 people of terrorism-related crimes, state-run Al Ekhbariya television reported on Tuesday.

The TV channel said they were charged with financing terrorism and with takfir – the Islamist militant practice of labeling followers of other schools of Islam ‘unbelievers’. It said one of them “set up a terrorist organization in prison”.

Ekhbariya did not provide the nationalities or names of those convicted, details about when they were arrested or put on trial, nor what sentences were issued by the specialist criminal court in Riyadh, which was set up to try terrorism cases.

Riyadh has come under mounting international scrutiny over its human rights record since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 and the detention of women’s rights activists who are still on trial.