Riyadh: The number of people charged with terrorism by Saudi Arabia's Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution (BIP) has reached 5,080, a BIP spokesman has revealed.
Of these, 2,215 (43.6 per cent) were referred to the courts where 1,612 (31.7 per cent) have been sentenced while cases against 603 were still being heard.
The BIP spokesman said the bureau was working on preparing lawsuits against 934 suspects and investigating 1,931. He added the suspects would be referred to the courts after the completion of all procedures at the BIP.
Meanwhile, Major General Mansour Al Turki, security spokesman of the Interior Ministry, told reporters at the security forces' officers' club in Riyadh on Saturday that the total number of suspects arrested on terror charges in Saudi Arabia has reached 11,527.
He added that 5,831 of them had been released and investigations were complete in 90 per cent of the cases.
He added that the number of those still detained was 5,696. Among them, 4,371 were Saudi nationals and 1,325 were non-Saudis.
Commenting on the BIP statement, Al Turki said it reflected the progress being made with regard to the situation of those arrested for terror-related cases.
"The law has given the right of compensation to those who have spent more time under arrest and detention than their jail sentences as decided by the court. Accordingly, compensation worth Saudi riyal 32 million (D31.3 million) was paid to more than 486 detainees," he said.
Al Turki added detainees had the right to a fair trial, including having lawyers provided to those who could not afford their own.
"Not only that, we pay financial assistance to the detainees and their families, and so far the government has paid more than 529 million riyals in this regard," he said.
The non-governmental National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) has welcomed the statement released by the BIP on the measures taken so far against detained terror suspects in Saudi Arabia.
"We are looking forward to seeing the suspects not yet referred to court, to be either referred there or set free," NSHR chairman Dr. Mufleh Bin Rubaian Al Qah'tani said in a statement to reporters.
He said the society hopes a royal pardon would be issued for some detainees who stood out in detention due their good behaviour, and whose families were suffering.
"The behaviour of those to be set free can be monitored in different ways to guarantee their integration into society," he added.
