Two Britons have been secretly sentenced to 18 years in prison in Saudi Arabia for their alleged involvement in a bombing campaign in the kingdom, the British Guardian reported on Saturday.
One of the Britons, James Lee, was sentenced in October 2001, while James Cottle was convicted and sentenced in February. In what appears to be a massive blow to the British government, it appears the Saudis only informed the British Foreign Office of the sentences at the outset of this month.
“The decision to sentence the men will be even more galling to British officials as Mr. Lee's conviction came a month after Tony Blair sent two personal envoys to Riyadh to plead for the men's release, the British paper added. A Canadian facing similar charges has been sentenced to death, according to an official spokesman for the Canadian department of foreign affairs, who had been contacted by his Saudi lawyers.
But after the government issued a strongly worded rebuke criticizing Saudi Arabia for flouting "all international norms of due process", the lawyers said that a sentence had not yet been imposed.
The men are part of a group of seven men detained in Saudi Arabia in connection with an anti-western bombing campaign that left one Briton dead and maimed several others. Six of the men appeared in televised confessions to the bombings last year. The fate of the three other Britons is unclear as the British Foreign Office declined to comment on the details of the case.
A Belgian, Raf Schyvens, has been sentenced to eight years.
The British Foreign Office, which has consistently sought to handle the case discreetly, gave a brief statement late Friday saying it remained "deeply concerned about the men's situation". (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
