Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Palestinian militant group, Hamas, expressed great shock at the court’s sentence of 15 years in prison for a representative, Muhammad Al-Khudari, Saudi Arabia.
They also expressed surprise that a Saudi court sentenced Jordanians to prison terms to those involved with Hamas.
“We are very surprised by the decision of the Saudi Court of Justice against our Palestinian and Jordanian brothers who live in the territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” said a Hamas press statement. Middle East Monitor, Tuesday (10/8).
Hamas urged the Saudis to immediately release prisoners accused of involvement with Hamas.
“Our brothers did nothing wrong to be punished so severely and unjustly that they had to be brought to justice. All they did was try to fight for their people without being silenced by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or its inhabitants,” the Hamas statement continued.
A Saudi court also sentenced Al-Khudari’s son Hani to three years in prison. They were charged with the offense of being involved with a terrorist group.
Saudi Arabia, an ally of the United States, classifies Hamas as a terrorist group.
In addition, Saudi courts also handed down prison sentences varying from five to 25 years for 22 of the 69 Palestinian and Jordanian detainees. The rest were acquitted of all charges.
Saudi security forces arrested Al-Khudari and Hani as well as dozens of Palestinians and Jordanians linked to Hamas in early April 2019.
Al-Khudari is a Palestinian and retired doctor and politician who has lived in Saudi Arabia for about 30 years. He became Hamas’ official Saudi representative and was responsible for coordinating relations between the group and the local government.
In February, Amnesty International explained that Al-Khudari had undergone surgery and was treated for prostate cancer before he and his son were detained by Saudi security forces.
(ayp/ayp)
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