In this file photo taken on October 10, 2018, a demonstrator dressed as Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) with blood on his hands protests outside the Saudi Embassy in Washington (AFP)

The Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) in Riyadh, the entity entitled to prosecute "terrorism" cases in Saudi Arabia, has charged six former prominent SCC judges and four former judges of the country's supreme court with "high treason" - a crime punishable by death in Saudi Arabia - in its first secret hearing of the case on February 16, 2023, American non-profit organization Democracy for the Arab Now (DAWN) reported.

According to sources, the government has denied the defendants legal counsel and has kept them incommunicado since their arrest on April 11, 2022.

Abdullah Alaoudh, Gulf Director at DAWN said, "The shocking charges leveled against these judges, many of whom have issued egregiously abusive sentences against Saudi citizens at the behest of the Crown Prince, demonstrates that no one is safe in Saudi Arabia."

"The prosecution of these judges is emblematic of the Crown Prince's wider purges within the country and his attempts to make the judiciary subservient solely to his wishes," he tersely stated.

Executing 81 people for MBS' sake: Not good enough reason to be saved

On April 11, 2022, the Saudi State Security Agency arrested the judges. Those arrested reportedly include six judges from the SCC - Abdullah bin Khaled Al-Luhaidan, Abdulaziz bin Medawi Al-Jaber, Jundub Al-Muferrih, Abdulaziz bin Fahad Al-Dawood, Talal Al-Humaidan, Fahad Al-Sughayyer - and four judges from the High Court - Khalid bin Awaidh Al-Qahtani, Nasser bin Saud Al-Harbi, Muhammed Al-Omari, and Muhammed bin Musfir Al-Ghamdi.

Two of these SCC justices, Abdullah bin Khaled Al-Luhaidan and Abdulaziz bin Medawi Al-Jaber, were previously exposed by DAWN for their direct involvement in human rights violations in Saudi Arabia.

In December 2020, Al-Luhaidan convicted notable women's rights advocate Loujain Alhathloul on false "terrorism" accusations, while Al-Jaber sentenced a minor and many others to death, including many of those executed in the March 2022 mass execution of 81 people.

#SaudiArabia goes on with its unlawful executions; 2 months after the last mass executions that shocked the whole world, Sadiq Majid Thamer and Jaafar Muhammad Sultan now face a death sentence for allegedly smuggling explosives.#Bahrain pic.twitter.com/xcP8jvrpR3
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) May 22, 2022

According to a source with knowledge of the proceedings, the arrests and prosecution of these judges bore striking parallels to earlier purges of perceived MBS rivals, and their allegations appear to be politically driven, with no serious evidence provided against the accused.

Officials from the State Security Circuit of the Public Prosecution Office charged the SCC judges after they signed confessions stating they had been too "lenient" in the State Security cases they presided over during their tenures as SCC judges, according to a source with knowledge of the trial and who said he reviewed the court documents presented against the defendants.

The #Saudi Crown Prince tightens his chokehold on Saudi royals, in scenes resembling the 2017's Ritz hotel detentions.#MBS #SaudiArabia pic.twitter.com/LsecBKTkK5
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) April 25, 2022

Court documents mention these admissions as proof of the charges and reference them as examples of "leniency". The punishments are handed out by judges in cases involving the prosecutions of human rights defenders, peaceful dissidents, and women's rights activists.

Among the additional claims leveled against them is "complacency with state security criminals," according to the source, though it is unclear whether this is a cognizable felony under Saudi law, or whether it would fit the requirements of international law if it were.

According to the same source, the judge presiding over the trial of these ten judges is Awad Al-Ahmari, who was previously probed for his abuses; he was chosen to lead the SCC by royal decree on June 9, 2013.

'Nothing protects a Saudi citizen'

Following the arrest of these judges, MBS replaced them on June 20 with his "loyalists", who have since reviewed a number of prosecutions involving political activists and Twitter commenters and drastically increased their punishments.

For example, the SCC, now led by these freshly appointed justices, overturned lower court verdicts of eight and thirteen years in prison, respectively, against two Saudi women, Salma Al-Shehab and Nourah Al-Qahtani, for their use of social media.

The imprisonment and trial of the judges appear to be devoid of basic due process safeguards. On February 23, 2023, a source who attended the trial and was familiar with the arrests said, as quoted by Dawn, that state security authorities detained the judges incommunicado for 10 months, refusing them access to their families and counsel.

The same source also attended the trial, stressing that the government denied the defendants legal counsel and that one of the judges was just taken to an intensive care unit owing to major health difficulties.

The non-profit organization has called for Saudi judges to be held accountable for violating human, legal, and political rights, as well as their involvement in facilitating official repression of Saudi human rights defenders, civil society leaders, and democracy campaigners.

The organization further opposes the apparent arbitrary arrests and lack of due process displayed by several of the judges recently charged with "high treason".

At the very least, the Saudi authorities should allow the accused access to counsel and family visits, as per the organization.

Yet, given that Saudi prosecutors lack any prosecutorial independence and the SCC's record demonstrates that it is not a fair and unbiased court, the government should immediately release the prisoners, it added.

"Nothing protects a Saudi citizen's basic rights to life and freedom, not even blindly obeying the Crown Prince's dictates or carrying out his dirty work by sentencing his critics to lengthy prison terms," said Alaoudh.

"By prosecuting these judges, MBS is sending a message to every judge in the country that they have to be as brutal as possible to avoid the fate of their victims," he added.

See more: Human Rights Watch Report Reveals New Details About Torture in Saudi Prisons