Two Chechens who hijacked a Russian plane to the Saudi city of Medina earlier this year will be tried by a Sharia court, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz said on Sunday.
The official Saudi News Agency (SPA) quoted Prince Nayef as saying that “the investigation procedures have been completed by the concerned authorities, and the culprits will be tried in line with article seven of The Hague and Montreal agreements, which stipulate the right of the country to which any plane may be hijacked to try the hijackers on its territories.”
Nayef added that the pair would "receive a fair trial in keeping with the provisions of Islamic law."
He did not make clear when the trial would begin.
Under Islamic law the two hijackers, Leriskhan Arsaiev and Deni Magomerzaiev, face a possible death penalty for murder, said AFP.
The third hijacker, Soupian Arsaiev, was killed during the operation to free some 120 passengers aboard the Vnoukovo Airlines plane.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged Saudi authorities to hand over the two surviving hijackers despite the absence of an extradition treaty between Moscow and Riyadh, which clinched to its right to conduct the trial on the Saudi soil – Albawaba.com
