Private time with wife in prison delays Iran spy’s reply to court

Mansour Al-Shihri Okaz/Saudi Gazette RIYADH — A suspect being tried for spying for Iran asked the judge at the Criminal Court in Riyadh to give him some more time to reply to the charges against him because the court session coincides with his ‘khalwa’ (seclusion) with his wife in prison. He told the judge that the session also coincides with his examinations at Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University. The defendant is studying public administration. In the Kingdom, prisoners — whether citizens or expatriates — are given private time with their wives in special rooms in prisons built for this purpose. The judge agreed to his request and set a new time for him to appear before the court. The lawyers defending the suspects have so far been absent from the court sessions demanding special parking places, and that they should not be body checked before entering the court and be allowed to bring their mobile phones inside the court room. They conveyed these demands through the suspects they represent. The judge told them that lawyers are given privileges in courts more than anyone else and that body checks are carried on everyone including the judge himself for safety. He also told them that there are special boxes in which they can put their mobile phones. The judge said each lawyer can switch off his mobile phone, keep it in the box and take the key with him. The two defendants — No. 7 and 8, who appeared before the court on Sunday — said they could not prepare their replies because they were not allowed to meet their lawyers.