TEHRAN, Apr 17 - A Saudi court on Wednesday adjourned a hearing in the trial of 11 women activists which has drawn international censure, officials said, just days after campaigners reported a new crackdown on their supporters.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The activists, among them Loujain al-Hathloul who has accused her interrogators of sexual abuse and torture during nearly a year in custody, face charges that include contact with foreign media, diplomats and human rights groups.
A panel of three judges at the Riyadh criminal court had been expected to examine their response to the charges, filed earlier this month, and possibly announce sentences for some women.
But policemen at the courthouse turned away Western media and diplomats -- already barred from attending previous sessions of the high-profile trial -- saying the hearing had been adjourned.
No explanation was given and it remains unclear when the trial will resume.
"We learn that the #WomensRightsDefenders trial did not take place today, for reasons that are not known," ALQST, a London-based human rights group focused on Saudi Arabia, said on Twitter.
The families of most of the 11 activists were unaware of the development, sources following the trial said. They had been planning to show up in court for the hearings, which were earlier scheduled separatedly for each woman.
Riyadh has faced pressure from Western governments to release the women, most of whom were detained last summer in a wide-ranging crackdown against activists just before the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on female motorists.
Three of them -- activist Aziza al-Yousef, blogger Eman al-Nafjan and preacher Rokaya al-Mohareb –- have been granted temporary release.
In an apparent crackdown on the women's supporters earlier this month, Saudi authorities arrested at least nine writers and academics, including two US-Saudi dual nationals.
Aziza's son, Salah al-Haidar, is among the two Americans detained.
Source: AFP
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