A Saudi court sentenced 15 people to death after convicting them of spying for Iran
Riyadh:
A Saudi court sentenced 15 people to death on Tuesday after convicting them of spying for the kingdom's regional rival Iran, Saudi media reported.
All 15 were Saudi citizens, most of them members of the kingdom's Shiite minority, a source close to the case told Agence France-Presse.
The death sentences will be appealed, the source added.
The 15 were among 32 people tried over the espionage allegations, Alriyadh newspaper said on its website.
Two were acquitted while the rest received jail sentences of between six months and 25 years.
All of the defendants were Saudis, except for one Iranian and one Afghan, Saudi media reported.
The Agence France-Presse source said one of the two defendants acquitted was a foreigner.
Human Rights Watch has dismissed the trial as "a mockery of justice".
The case began in February, the month after Riyadh cut diplomatic relations with Tehran following the burning of the Saudi embassy and a consulate by Iranian demonstrators in protest at the kingdom's execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
The most serious charge levelled was high treason.
Prosecutors also alleged that defendants divulged defence secrets, sought to commit sabotage, tried to recruit moles in government departments to send coded information, and supported "riots" in the Shia-dominated eastern district of Qatif, Saudi media reported.
Some of the defendants were accused of meeting Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Human Rights Watch said the trial violated the basic due process rights of the accused, all of whom except one had been detained since 2013.
The New York-based watchdog cited a lawyer who had represented some of the defendants until March as saying the timing of the case "may relate to ongoing hostility between Iran and Saudi Arabia".
Tensions between the region's leading Shia and Sunni powers remain high as they support opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
All 15 were Saudi citizens, most of them members of the kingdom's Shiite minority, a source close to the case told Agence France-Presse.
The death sentences will be appealed, the source added.
The 15 were among 32 people tried over the espionage allegations, Alriyadh newspaper said on its website.
Two were acquitted while the rest received jail sentences of between six months and 25 years.
All of the defendants were Saudis, except for one Iranian and one Afghan, Saudi media reported.
The Agence France-Presse source said one of the two defendants acquitted was a foreigner.
Human Rights Watch has dismissed the trial as "a mockery of justice".
The case began in February, the month after Riyadh cut diplomatic relations with Tehran following the burning of the Saudi embassy and a consulate by Iranian demonstrators in protest at the kingdom's execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
The most serious charge levelled was high treason.
Prosecutors also alleged that defendants divulged defence secrets, sought to commit sabotage, tried to recruit moles in government departments to send coded information, and supported "riots" in the Shia-dominated eastern district of Qatif, Saudi media reported.
Some of the defendants were accused of meeting Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Human Rights Watch said the trial violated the basic due process rights of the accused, all of whom except one had been detained since 2013.
The New York-based watchdog cited a lawyer who had represented some of the defendants until March as saying the timing of the case "may relate to ongoing hostility between Iran and Saudi Arabia".
Tensions between the region's leading Shia and Sunni powers remain high as they support opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
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