Alwaght- The Palestinian resistance movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad condemned ruling by a Saudi court against 69 Palestinian and Jordanian detainees, with some handed jail terms of up to 22 years, over alleged support for Hamas.
Mahmoud al-Zahar, a leader of Hamas, told Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen news agency on Sunday that trial of Palestinian inmates was illegal, because they had committed no crime against the Saudi government.
“The verdicts against Palestinian detainees have been issued at the request of the Zionist regime,” the senior Hamas leader said.
Al-Zahar stressed that the verdicts issued by the Saudi court are of a political, not judicial nature because Mohammed al-Khoudary, one of the Palestinian prisoners in Saudi Arabia, is Hamas’ official representative in the kingdom, who has committed no crime.
The 82-year-old Khoudary is a veteran Hamas leader who was responsible for managing the relationship with Saudi Arabia for two decades.
Khoudary had long had a relationship with the Saudi royal family and security agencies and was the conduit for their indirect talks with Hamas before being detained in April 2019.
Amnesty International has previously said that the Khoudarys had not been not allowed access to a lawyer while in detention.
The Islamic Jihad resistance movement also condemned Saudi court’s rulings, noting that the detainees were put in jail because of their support for the resistance of the Palestinian nation.
The movement added that the Saudi court’s verdicts are not justifiable, and are against Islamic Sharia and Arab values, which call for defense of the oppressed Palestinian nation.
