Dozens of Palestinian activists in Saudi Arabia were accused by the kingdom of supporting Hamas, the governing authority in the Gaza Strip, and were put on trial, according to Arabic press reports.
68 Palestinian and Jordanian citizens started to face the “special terrorism court” in the capital Riyadh, beginning on Sunday.
They are accused of supporting Hamas by the Saudi kingdom. https://t.co/qe6YDGFDqb
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) March 10, 2020
Families of the accused reported that their relatives were being prosecuted without legal representation after being arrested by Saudi secret police in April of last year.
The arrests intensified in 2019 and there has been no official comment from the Saudi government on either the arrests or the trials.
Dozens of Palestinians face 'terrorism court' in Saudi Arabia https://t.co/bTIxGNJze0
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 9, 2020
Ties between Hamas and Saudi Arabia have been cold in recent years.
Relations worsened since the rise to power of Mohammed bin Salman, now crown prince, who has taken unprecedented moves to normalize relations with Israel.
(Palestine Chronicle, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Social Media)
Is the Crown Prince more interested in allying with Israel than in justice?