The Hamas Movement has expressed its shock and dismay at the court rulings issued by a Saudi court against a large number of Palestinian and Jordanian detainees who live in the Kingdom.
In a statement Hamas said those detainees did not commit any crimes that entail issuing such harsh and unjustified prison sentences against them and holding trials for them in the first place.
“All they did was support their cause and people which they belong to without doing any harm to the Kingdom and its people” the Movement underlined.
“While we welcome the acquittal verdicts that have been issued for some of the brothers we deplore the harsh and undeserved rulings against most of the detainees and we call upon the Saudi leadership to swiftly release them and end their suffering and the suffering of their families” Hamas said.
A Saudi criminal court on Sunday issued various sentences against 69 Palestinian and Jordanian detainees with some handed down jail terms of up to 22 years over claims of supporting the Hamas Movement.
Dozens of Palestinians have been in detention and facing trial before a Saudi court since February 2019 including businessmen academics and students.
On Sunday the Committee of Jordanian Detainees in Saudi Arabia a Jordanian rights group told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that court rulings were issued against 69 Jordanians and Palestinians with some of them sentenced to 22 years in prison and others acquitted.
However the detainees who received jail terms can appeal against the rulings in 40 days.
The Saudi court sentenced senior Hamas official Mohamed al-Khudari to 15 years in prison while his son Hani was sentenced to three years according to Anadolu agency.
Anadolu quoted Khudari’s brother Abdul-Majeed as saying that the court reduced his brother’s sentence by half (seven and a half years).
82-year-old Khudari is a veteran Hamas official who was responsible for managing his Movement’s relationship with Saudi Arabia for nearly two decades during which he had relations with the Saudi royal family and local officials and was the conduit for their indirect talks with Hamas before being detained in April 2019.
Amnesty International already said that Khudari had not been allowed access to a lawyer while in detention.
