Court in Saudi Arabia Charges 10 Judges With ‘High Treason’ Punishable With Death

A court in Saudi Arabia has charged 10 judges with “high treason,” punishable with the death penalty, according to a Saudi rights group. The charges against six current and four former judges is part of purge of the country’s judiciary by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto head of the country, according to Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). The judges were charged during a secret hearing of the case in the Specialized Criminal Court on February 16, 2023, according to the group, which was founded by Saudi journalist and democracy advocate Jamal Khashoggi, months before his death believed to have been ordered by MBS in 2018. The government has denied the defendants legal counsel and held them incommunicado since their detention on April 11, 2022, according to DAWN, citing unnamed sources. “The arrests and prosecution of these judges bear striking resemblance to previous purges of perceived rivals of MBS, and their charges appear to be politically motivated, with no credible evidence presented against the accused,” DAWN reported. After arresting these judges, MBS replaced them on June 20 with loyalists, who have since reviewed a number of trials of political activists and twitter commentators and dramatically increased their sentences. The organization calls on the Saudi government to release the judges and provide them with access to legal council.