Saudi on death row gets jail term for TV criticism

03 Sep 2009 10:56:11 GMT
Source: Reuters
RIYADH, Sept 3 (Reuters) - A Shi'ite who has been on death row for 16 years for insulting the Prophet Mohammed was sentenced this week to another five years in jail for criticising Saudi Arabia's justice system, an activist said.

The jail sentence against Hadi al-Mutif, who is from the Ismaili Shi'ite minority, could rattle the minority's confidence in recent efforts by the government to improve relations at a time of instability in Yemen, which borders their native region.

The verdict issued on Monday punished Hadi al-Mutif for criticising the Saudi justice system and the absolute monarchy's human rights record in comments he made from prison aired by U.S.-funded Alhurra Television in 2007. Prisoners are often able to access mobile phones from visitors to Saudi jails.

"He said that he was a victim of sectarian segregation," said Mohamed al-Askar, a leading Ismaili activist.

Hamad al-Hoshan, a justice ministry spokesman, said he was not immediately able to comment.

Mutif's situation has become a rallying call for Ismailis over what they say is discrimination in the Islamic state, which follows a puritanical form of mainstream Sunni Islam. Many Wahhabi clerics regard Shi'ites as heretics.

Based in the Najran area bordering Yemen, the Ismailis say Sunnis are favoured for jobs, housing and land and complain they cannot practices their rites openly.

A Western diplomat in Riyadh said the U.S.-allied Saudi government was seeking a solution to Mutif's case.

"It is not going to be easy for them especially when you have some hardline Sunni clerics controlling courts," he said.

"They must be coercive with clerics on this case because it has attracted a lot of international attention and there could be a political price even at home," he said.

Last month King Abdullah ordered the release of 17 Ismailis jailed after clashes with police in 2000. [ID:nLO627137]

The king ordered a reform of the justice system two years ago, which if implemented would create an appeal court system and codify laws. Judges, who are Islamic legal scholars, have wide room for discretion in sentencing.

(Reporting by Souhail Karam; Editing by Andrew Hammond)