DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia has used a secretive court established to try terrorism cases as “a weapon of repression” to imprison peaceful critics, activists, journalists, clerics and minority Muslim Shiites, including some who were sentenced to death and executed, Amnesty International said Thursday. The London-based rights organization examined court documents and spoke to activists and lawyers for its 53-page report , which sheds light on the secretive proceedings of the Specialized Criminal Court. The report found that trials before the court were “a mockery of justice” and its judges “willing accomplices” in suppressing those who dare speak up. Established in 2008 to try terror-related crimes, the court started trying critics of the government in 2011 under broadly worded counter-terrorism laws that criminalize acts such as insulting King Salman and the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Amnesty said some of the common charges in proceedings ...
Striving for a World without Capital Punishment