A special court in Riyadh has convicted three lawyers for making false accusations against the ruler and the Justice Ministry and handed jail terms ranging between five and eight years.

All three lawyers were convicted of prejudicing public order through tweets which contained opinions against the ruler, and expressed contempt for the judiciary and undermined it.

The court found the defendant No. 1 guilty of criticizing the king’s support to an Arab country.

The court also observed that the defendant found fault with the justice system by criticizing and calling some court verdicts as oppressive. He was sentenced to eight years in jail.

The court sentenced defendant No. 2 to five years in prison for describing the judicial system as “retarded,” and for castigating the Shariah courts.

The charges against defendant No. 3 included accusations against the Supreme Judicial Council that it sacked good judges.

The defendant also criticized judgments issued by some law courts and calling the verdict against one of the defendants as harsh. He leveled those accusations through his Twitter account.

He was sentenced to five years in jail.

The judge issued a stern warning to anyone who held similar views.

 
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