MANAMA (Sputnik) – A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced a man to 26 years in prison for sending messages on behalf of the former head of a Saudi offshoot of al-Qaeda to the media, the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported Tuesday.
Investigators found that the accused sent audio files containing messages from a former al-Qaeda leader Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, who was killed in 2004, to the office of Al Jazeera TV channel. The channel aired the addresses in question several times.
In February 2014, Saudi Arabia adopted counter-terrorism legislation, which regards terrorism as any unlawful action directly or indirectly undermining public security. The country’s authorities introduced a penalty of up to 20 years' imprisonment for any links to religious extremist movements and for supporting such groups. Extremists who fight abroad are also subject to similar prison terms.
