Saudi court postpones hearing of preacher Awdah

DUBAI: A Saudi court on Sunday postponed until December the trial of prominent preacher Salman al-Awdah, who could face the death penalty on terrorism-related charges, his son said.

The public prosecutor requested the maximum penalty for Awdah, a 62-year-old Muslim cleric with a strong social media following, at the last secret hearing in May on charges including “spreading discord and incitement against the ruler”.

“After waiting five hours, they just postponed it until December,” his son Abdullah al-Awdah, who is in the United States, told media of the hearing scheduled for Sunday.