Hearing of Saudi dissident cleric postponed

DUBAI: A hearing in the case against Saudi dissident Sheikh Salman al-Awda was postponed on Sunday until December, the prominent cleric´s son said amid growing concerns he will be sentenced to death.

"My father was not brought to the court and the session was postponed. The next session is going to be in December," tweeted Abdullah al-Awda.

It is the second such postponement this year in the case of the cleric, who was arrested in September 2017 as part of a widening crackdown on dissent in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

Awda's family and Saudi media have said prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. The charge sheet has not been made public.

Human rights groups have said the trial is a political reprisal against Awda, a leading figure in a 1990s Islamist movement associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

On Friday, Amnesty International said it was "gravely concerned" that Awda could be executed.

"Since his arrest almost two years ago, Sheikh al-Awda has gone through a terrible ordeal including prolonged pre-trial detention, months of solitary confinement, incommunicado detention and other ill-treatment," Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty´s Middle East research head, said in a statement.

According to Amnesty, Awda was arrested a few hours after posting a tweet welcoming reports of a possible reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Riyadh and several allies cut off all diplomatic and economic ties with Doha in June 2017, accusing it of links to Islamist extremists, a charge Qatar has categorically denied.

The cleric's family have said Saudi authorities had demanded that Awda and other prominent figures publicly back the kingdom in the dispute, but he refused.