Saudi gets 13 years for joining Al-Qaeda

JEDDAH: The Special Criminal Court in Riyadh has sentenced a Saudi citizen to 13 years in prison for issuing religious edicts against Saudi rulers and embracing takfiri ideology.

The court also found the man guilty of meeting with people who follow the takfiri ideology and the other deviant thoughts.
The charge sheet presented in court against the accused included charges of joining Al-Qaeda, contacting its leadership and members, seeking to persuade other people to pay allegiance to the leader of the



organization, traveling to Afghanistan through Iran to join camps to train in weapons and electronics and participating in armed conflict.
He was also charged with traveling for a second time to Iran to enter Iraq to fight there, after which he traveled to Lebanon when he could not enter Iraq to join the organizations in Nahr Al-Bared.
The court sentenced him to 13 years of prison effective the date of his arrest and banned him from traveling outside the Kingdom for a similar period after the end of his prison term.