by Ali Khalil
RIYADH, Aug 23 (AFP) - A Riyadh court Monday postponed the second hearing in the trial of three Saudi reformists accused of demanding constitutional reforms after declaring, amid chaos and disorder, that the audience had shown disrespect for court rules.
Security men armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles had kept more than 100 people, mainly family members and supporters, on a separate floor before the session was due to start.
When they headed for the courtroom they jostled for space, trying to push and shove their way in amid tight security to attend a session that was never formally opened.
Judge Abdul Latif Abdul Latif, a member of the three-man panel trying the defendants, later told the crowd gathered outside the court room that the hearing was postponed because of "noise and disrespect for the court rules."
Ali al-Demaini, Matruk al-Faleh and Abdullah al-Hamed have been accused of calling for the kingdom to become a constitutional monarchy and questioning the independence of its judicial system.
"We are not attending the hearing until it is open to the public," Faleh earlier told AFP as he had tried to make his way into the courtroom.
He said the trio would go on a hunger strike if Monday's hearing was not open to the public, but Abdul Latif later insisted it had been, despite claims there had been attempts to keep the public out.
Defence lawyer Abdulrahaman al-Lahem told AFP that the courtroom had been filled with "plain-clothed security men in order to keep out supporters".
He said that one of the judges informed lawyers the panel was unaware that security men had held back the relatives and supporters.
"He (the judge) told us that the room was full. He did not know people were not allowed in," said Lahem, who along with the rest of the defence team had refused to attend the session until the public was allowed in.
Two of the defence lawyers, Essam Basrawi and Sulaiman Rushudi, meanwhile, told AFP they had been banned from participating.
During the trial's opening August 9, which the public could attend, the three were formally charged with "issuing statements and collecting as many signatures as possible on petitions" calling for changes in the conservative kingdom.
They were also accused of "calling for adopting a constitutional monarchy and using western terminology" in demanding political reforms.
The three, who have been detained for nearly five months, also allegedly questioned a provision in the basic law which says the king heads the "judicial authority".
The men had requested two weeks to study the accusations before entering their pleas.
The trio were among about a dozen activists arrested on March 16, half of whom were released within a couple of days after pledging to no longer publicly lobby for reform.
Three others were freed at the end of March. Two of the latter said they had not promised to cease their pro-reform activities although they promised to channel their demands solely to Saudi authorities.
Many of the activists who were detained were signatories to a petition demanding Saudi Arabia become a constitutional monarchy. Demaini, however, did not sign this petition.
Demaini, Faleh and Hamed are being tried after the failure of attempts by lawyers to hammer out a compromise acceptable to both parties that would have led to their release.
A crackdown on advocates of democracy has cast a shadow over a cautious process of reform in Saudi Arabia, a conservative Muslim kingdom where the first ever polls to elect half the members of new municipal councils are due to be held later this year.