A Riyadh court jailed three Saudi reformers accused of seeking a constitutional monarchy for between six and nine years Sunday in a case that has cast a shadow over tentative reform moves. Ali al-Demaini was sentenced to nine years, Abdullah al-Hamed to seven years and Matruk al-Faleh to six years, Hamed's brother Issa told AFP after the closed-door hearing. The three were convicted of "stirring up sedition and disobeying the ruler," Demaini's wife, Fawzia al-Uyuni, said. Defence lawyer Khaled al-Mutairi said the trio, who have been in custody for 14 months, will receive the text of the ruling within 10 days. They will then have one month to appeal.
The sentences run from the day of their arrest on March 16, 2004.
"It is a harsh verdict which they do not deserve. They did not commit any crime, and they consistently stressed their loyalty to the country and regime," said a baffled Jamila al-Oqla, Faleh's wife.
She said she had expected the activists to be acquitted.
"This ruling is proof that opinions are stifled" in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom, Oqla added.
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