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Saudi Arabia sentences 15 people to death over Iranian spy case | Saudi Arabia sentences 15 people to death over Iranian spy case |
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The Saudi Arabian government has sentenced 15 people to death and jailed many more over an alleged spy ring that handed secret documents to Iran. | |
A court in the capital of Riyadh handed down the death penalties on Tuesday over a three-year case that involves 30 Saudis, one Iranian and one Afghan. | |
Critics have long said the high-profile trial is entirely politically motivated and serves as a distraction from the Gulf state's economic woes. | |
The 32 were detained in 2013 and went on trial in February charged with an exhaustive list of damning accusations. | |
Saudi state media said suspects fed back sensitive national security information to Iran - the Islamic kingdom's long-term rival - that attacked the territorial unity and integrity of the country and its armed forces. | |
Suspects were also accused of meeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, coordinating with Iranian intelligence agents, of possessing weapons, forging documents and accepting bribes. | |
Moreover, they were accused of attempting economic sabotage, of trying to undermine social peace and public order, spread chaos, incite sectarian strife and carry out "hostile acts" against the kingdom. | |
Prosecutors also accused the alleged spy ring of travelling to Iran and Lebanon for training on espionage techniques which included drafting coded messages. | |
The gang allegedly attempted to recruit people working in state agencies and hack into computers for sensitive information. | |
Almost all of the defendants are Shia Muslims, in what is a Sunni-dominated country, and are from the oil rich Eastern province where street protests calling for democratic reform have bubbled up since the Arab Spring. | |
Anger reached fever pitch in this region, when in January, leading celric and vocal regime critic Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was executed. | |
The publicity has swept aside headlines surrounding the Saudis involvment in the Yemn civil war, which has killed more than 10,000 civilians. | |
During times of low oil prices, Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman has slashed capital spending by 71 per cent and ministers' pay by 20 per cent. | |
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