The judge of a special Riyadh summary court trying a Saudi woman dubbed as “Lady Al-Qaeda” on Tuesday postponed hearings until Oct. 29 at the request of the attorney general.
The attorney had asked to be given time to bring evidence and present his response after the defendant denied all 18 terrorism-related charges against her.
The court held its fifth hearing on Tuesday into the case against the woman, who was charged with being a member of terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, providing shelter to a number of wanted terrorists, recruiting for Al-Qaeda and financing terrorist operations.
The first Saudi woman to stand trial for terrorism charges was also accused of the acquisition of firearms for use in terrorist crimes, preparing to go to war-torn areas without the permission of the ruler and participating in forging identity cards for people wishing to travel to combat zones.
Two of the woman’s brothers attended the court session. A representative of the Human Rights Commission and reporters were barred from attending.
The defendant had earlier presented her replies to the charges against her in 11 written pages. She categorically denied all accusations and said she was a virtual prisoner of her two former husbands who had connections to Al-Qaeda.
“I was involved in matters I had no hand in. I was made to wear a dress which was not mine,” she said.
She asked to be released immediately and said she was very loyal to the government of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
She also denied financing terrorist operations and said she was collecting funds to send to poor people, orphans and widows in Afghanistan and Yemen.
The defendant was arrested on Feb. 20 last year. She was married to a man from the city of Buraidah who is currently being detained on terrorist charges.
She later divorced him and married one of his disciples named Muhammad Al-Wakeel, who was killed in a confrontation with security forces when terrorists targeted an Interior Ministry building in December 2004.
