Lawyers for 31 Omani Islamists accused of membership in a banned organization and plotting to overthrow the government pleaded their clients' innocence as their trial resumed Monday. Three lawyers defending 12 of the group said they had merely sought to promote the teachings of the sultanate's majority Ibadi sect in the face of "external currents." They said their clients' possession of weapons was in keeping with Omani norms and that the worst they can be accused of is holding firearms without a license.The trial opened a week ago, with the accused, who were arrested in January, appearing before the State Security Court in batches over three consecutive days. The defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charge of plotting to overthrow the regime by force, although some of them expressed "regret" and asked Sultan Qaboos to pardon them.
Ahead of Monday's session, police showed reporters some of the weapons seized with the accused, including around 40 Kalashnikov rifles, nine pistols and ammunition. A lawyer with one of the firms defending the suspects earlier said it was not clear when a verdict would be delivered, but added that those convicted would have the right to appeal to the Supreme Court and then to the Omani ruler. The lawyer said the prosecution had sought the death penalty for all suspects charged with subversion, but he doubted the sentence would be imposed. But the prosecutor at Monday's hearing asked the judge to rule as his court sees fit. "Serving the [Ibadi] sect does not require forming a secret organization, especially since the state serves the Ibadi sect as it does other Islamic sects," he said.
The state-run Oman Daily Observer warned that "fiddling with the state's security is a 'red line.' Preaching religion is achieved by prudence and good advice, not by force. Likewise, the call for reform and guidance to the path of piety does not require underground measures or secret meetings." The prosecution says the secret organization to which the accused belong was first formed in 1982. It has a public arm which organizes pilgrimages and youth summer camps, and an underground wing that strives for the establishment of an imamate in Oman in accordance with the teachings of their faith, according to the charge sheet. An offshoot of a dissident Shiite sect, the Ibadis are named after their founder, Abdullah bin Ibadh al-Maqissi, originally from Ibadh in Saudi Arabia. The faith was introduced to Oman in the eighth century.