SAUDI ARABIA: ONE DEATH PENALTY IN FIRST SAUDI "TERROR" TRIALS

July 8, 2009: A Saudi criminal court has convicted and sentenced an al-Qaida militant to death and given more than 300 others jail terms, fines and travel bans in the country's first known terrorism trials for suspected members of the terror network, officials said.
All preliminary rulings can be appealed and authorities plan to allow media to cover the appeal trials of militants involved in "terrorism and state security" violations, a justice ministry official said. He declined to identify the person or give details about the crime. Al Qaeda-linked militants launched a violent campaign in 2003 to destabilise the Saudi government.
The network's attacks have targeted expatriate residential compounds, oil installations and government buildings. (Sources: Reuters, Ap, 09/07/2009)