Saudi Arabia passes draconian law that criminalizes opinion as terrorism

Saudi Arabia criminalizes ‘terrorists’ defaming state’s reputation, disturbing order

 

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/saudi-arabia-counterterrorism-law-556/

Actions that threaten Saudi Arabia’s unity, disturb public order, or defame the reputation of the state or the king – will be considered acts of terrorism under a new counterterrorism law which has come into force in the gulf kingdom.

The new legislature was ratified by King Abdullah on Sunday after being approved by the Cabinet in December, following the initial proposal by the Interior Ministry and advisory Shura Council.

It defines terrorism as “any act carried out by an offender … intended to disturb the public order…to shake the security of society… stability of the state… expose its national unity to danger… suspend the basic law of governance or some of its articles,” according to its text as cited by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Terrorists can also be considered those individuals who “insult the reputation of the state or its position… inflict damage upon one of its public utilities or its natural resources,” or those who attempt to force “governmental authority to carry out or prevent it from carrying out an action, or to threaten to carry out acts that lead to the named purposes or incite [these acts].”

The legislation, made up of 40 clauses, allows the security forces to arrest and detain suspects for up to six months with the possibility to extend the confinement for another six months. Suspects are allowed to be held incommunicado for 90 days without the presence of their lawyer during the initial questioning.

Internet surveillance and phone tracking are also allowed under the new legislature, as well as the right for the security services to raid the homes of suspected terrorists, without prior approval from a judge. People suspected of financing terrorist activities could also be prosecuted.

The interior minister, rather than any judge, is empowered to suspend sentences or drop charges and release a person on trial.

When the legislature was approved in December, HRW lashed out against the Kingdom’s strive to limit freedom of speech and criticized the monarchy over its very vague definition of terrorism.

“Vague and overbroad legal provisions cannot be the basis for overriding a broad array of fundamental rights,” HRW said in a statement in December. “Saudi Arabia’s denial of the rights to participate in public affairs, and freedom of religion, peaceful assembly, association, and expression, as well as its systematic discrimination against women greatly exceed any notion of justifiable restrictions.”

Activists are worried that the law will first of all be applied to silence the liberal opposition in the country. Saudi activist Abdulaziz Al Shubaily from the Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights (HASEM) described the law as a “catastrophe”.

“If I call for the release of someone from jail for being held longer than their sentence, I can be tried for “asking the state to take action,” Shubaily said. “When I call for a constitutional monarchy, I can now be charged with terrorism.”

“They characterize you as a terrorist because you ask the kingdom to do something it does not want to do,” he added.

HRW researcher Adam Coogle said, that the new law is “draconian in spirit and letter, and there is every reason to fear that the authorities will easily and eagerly use it against peaceful dissidents.”

Saudi women who are seen driving can now be accused of disturbing public order for defying a driving ban imposed on females and face punishment under a new law. In October last year, several images emerged online of women getting in cars and going around the city as part of a unified protest.

Additional Info:

The Rise and Fall of the House of Saud

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Egypt’s Morsi accused of complicity in protest deaths

Egyptian women from the Muslim Brotherhood shout slogans and hold portraits of ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, as they gather in Cairo to attend a march in his support on August 11, 2013

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/08/19/319523/morsi-charged-over-protest-deaths/

Ousted Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, has been accused of complicity in the deaths and torture of demonstrators outside his presidential palace in 2012, judicial sources say.

On Monday, Egypt’s prosecution extended Morsi’s detention for another 15 days which starts from next week. He already stands accused of crimes related to his 2011 escape from jail.

In December 2012, violent clashes erupted between Morsi’s supporters and opponents in the capital, Cairo, after he issued a controversial constitutional declaration in November of the same year to expand his powers.

On December 5, five people were killed in the clashes between backers and opponents of Morsi in the capital.

Earlier in July, a court in the Arab country ordered Morsi's detention over allegations of collaboration with Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, “to undertake aggressive acts in the country, as well as attacking police facilities, officers and soldiers.”

On August 12, the Egyptian Judiciary extended the Morsi’s detention pending an inquiry into his alleged links with Hamas.

Morsi was due to be questioned on whether he collaborated with Hamas in attacks on police stations and prison breaks in early 2011, when he and some members of the Muslim Brotherhood escaped from jail during a revolution against the regime of former dictator, Hosni Mubarak.

Hamas reacted to the allegations on July 26 and condemned Morsi’s detention, saying “it is based on the premise that the Hamas movement is hostile.”

The movement’s spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, noted, “This is a dangerous development, which confirms that the current powers in Egypt are giving up on national causes and even using these issues to deal with other parties - first among them the Palestinian cause.”

Egypt plunged into chaos after the head of the country’s armed forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, ousted Morsi on July 3, suspended the constitution and dissolved the parliament.

Stiff sentences for writers, military and political leaders in Turkish coup plot trial

 

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/turkey-ergenekon-trial-verdict-041/

A Turkish court has handed down 17 life sentences in the ‘Ergenekon’ trial of nearly 300 alleged coup plotters, including for ex-army chief Ilker Basbug and several other ex-top brass, along with leftist party leaders and a journalist.

The other sentences in the case ranged from one year and three months to 117 years behind bars, and the charges included instigating an armed uprising against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s government, “aiding a terrorist organization”and conducting anti-state activities.

Retired Brig. Gen. Veli Kucuk, who was convicted of founding and heading the clandestine, secularist ultra-nationalist organization known as Ergenekon, received a double aggravated life sentence as well as an additional 99 years and one month in prison.

Prominent civilian suspects in the case, including journalist Tuncay Ozkan, Workers’ Party leader Dogu Perincek, accused of “leading a terrorist organization,”and lawyer Alparslan Aslan, identified as the assailant in the Turkish Council of State attack also received aggravated life sentences with additional years of imprisonment from the court.

Only 21 defendants were acquitted, and 16 others were released after the court took into consideration the time they spent in detention during the 6-year trial.

The court’s verdict has not yet come into power, and indictments are to be reviewed by Turkish Supreme Court. Several defendants have already announced they will appeal.

Turkish security forces were braced for large protests from the opposition at Silivri prison, west of Istanbul, where the verdicts were announced.

Despite bans for rallies being issued prior to the verdict delivery, demonstrators started arriving to the courthouse since early in the morning. Critics of Erdogan’s government, including the main opposition party, have described the trial as a “political witch hunt” aimed at cracking down on the country’s strong secularist traditions.

RT’s Irina Galushko, reporting from outside the prison complex, said local media estimated the number of security personnel at 10,000, with 13 water cannons having been spotted at the site.

Reports emerged later of tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons being used against protesters who gathered outside the Silivri complex.

The 2,455-page indictment listed dozens of charges against the 275 defendants, including accusations of them being members of an alleged ultranationalist terrorist network Ergenekon, which, according to the court, conspired to overthrow Erdogan’s government. Prosecutors had insisted on life sentences for 64 of the defendants.

The case was opened in 2007 when 27 hand grenades were discovered in a house in Istanbul. Accusations soon began circulating that the explosives were intended to be deployed in an coup attempt. The number of suspects and allegations continued to balloon over the proceeding five years.

Army officers, politicians, scientists, journalists and lawyers would later be implicated in the scheme. All of the accused deny the charges which have been levied against them.

One of the most notable arrests was the January 2012 detention of ex-military chief Ilker Basbug. That members of the military feature so prominently in the case has sparked accusations that Prime Minister Recep Erdogan is attempting to purge the military in a bid to put it under his thumb. The Turkish military staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and also forced a pro-Islamist government out of office in 1997. Over the past weekend four senior military officials were dismissed from their posts.

“People here say that essentially Ergenikon is just a pretense under which the Prime Minister is taking people who he personally does not like and putting them in jail so as to get rid of dissident voices,” RT's Irina Galushko reports from Istanbul.

Critics of the case include the main opposition party, who argue the charges brought against the accused are vague and the trial has dragged on for a suspiciously long period of time. They have further decried the use of anonymous witnesses as unacceptable. Critics of the proceedings have further characterized it as a politically motivated attempt on the part of Ergdogan’s Islamist government to stifle secularist activists in the country.

“This trial has been ridiculous and it ends with the verdict expected from the beginning that will be no surprise for no one. And it will be the end of trust in Erdogan’s government for a lot of people and it also is the end for the judicial system of Turkey,” Yunus Soner, from the Workers Party of Turkey, told RT.

Court hearings concerning the so-called Ergenekon trial have regularly led to violent clashes between the defendants’ supporters and police.

The trial is wrapping up in an already politically volatile climate, as Turkey has witnessed anti-government rallies on a near weekly basis, with the latest having taken place over the weekend. Monday’s verdict is expected to trigger further unrest.

Key Sentences:

Military & Police

Life sentences or more: Former armed forces chief General İlker Başbuğ, Former army commander Hurşit Tolon, Retired Col. Dursun Çiçek, Retired Col. Fuat Selvi, Hasan Ataman Yıldırım, retired generals Nusret Taşdeler, Hasan Iğsız and Şener Eruygur, Retired Brig. Gen. Veli Küçük, Capt. Muzaffer Tekin.
49 years: Lt. Col. Mustafa Dönmez.
47 years: Retired Col. Arif Doğan.
41 years: Retired Maj. Fikret Emek

Politicians:

Life: Workers’ Party leader Doğu Perinçek.
21 years: Workers' Party Press Secretary Hikmet Çiçek.
15 Years: Workers' Party Secretary-General Ferit İlsever

Journalists, Academics, Lawyers:

 
Life: Journalist Tuncay Özkan and lawyer Kemal Kerinçsiz.
34 years: Journalist Mustafa Balbay.
22 years: Professor Yalçın Küçük

Mafia Bosses:

12 years: Semih Tufan Gülaltay.
10 years: Drug lord Sami Hoştan