Specialized Criminal Court

The Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) (Arabic: المحكمة الجزائية المتخصصة‎) is a non-Sharia court created in Saudi Arabia in 2008 that tries suspected terrorists and human rights activists. On 26 June 2011, the court started trials of 85 people suspected of being involved in Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the 2003 Riyadh compound bombings and in September 2011 another 41 al-Qaeda suspects appeared in the court. In the same year, the court held trial sessions of human rights activists, including co-founder Mohammed Saleh al-Bejadi of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) and Mubarak Zu'air, a lawyer for long-term prisoners, and Khaled al-Johani, who spoke to BBC Arabic Television at a protest in Riyadh, thus becoming known as "the bravest man in Saudi Arabia". The court convicted 16 of the human rights activists to sentences of 5–30 years' imprisonment on 22 November 2011.

The main part of the Saudi Arabian legal system consists of Sharia courts. As of 1992^[update], the system allowed the creation of "specialized courts" for non-Sharia legal issues. The Specialized Criminal Court was created in 2008 for dealing with terrorist suspects.

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