RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, July 24 (UPI) -- A Saudi appeals court upheld a verdict sentencing three reformers to prison terms ranging from six to nine years, judicial sources said Sunday.
They said the court upheld the verdicts against Ali al-Dumeini, Abdullah al-Hamed and Matrouk al-Faleh, charged with attempting to establish a constitutional monarchy in the conservative oil-rich Arab kingdom.
In May, a court sentenced al-Dumeini to nine years, al-Hamed to seven and Matrouk to six years in prison.
The three men were convicted of seeking to change the kingdom's political system and "using Western terms in their demands for political changes" in the country.
They were among a group of 12 activists arrested in March 2004, nine of whom were released later.
The three were also among 116 signatories of a petition in December 2003 submitted to senior Saudi officials. The petition called for comprehensive constitutional reforms that would include greater public participation through parliamentary elections.
The petitioners also called for political, cultural, economic and social rights for the people and the separation of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.
