US embassy cable - 05MUSCAT716

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000716 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, SOCI, PHUM, KISL, PINS, ASEC, MU, Human Rights (General) 
SUBJECT: PLOTTERS SENTENCED, SMALL PROTEST HELD 
 
REF: MUSCAT 684 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard L. Baltimore III. 
Reason: 1.4 (d). 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) The State Security Court handed down sentences ranging 
from 10-20 years for most of the 31 defendants tried on 
charges of participating in an illegal organization and 
plotting to overthrow the government.  Although no judicial 
appeal process is available to the defendants, they can 
appeal their sentences to the Sultan.  It is likely that most 
or all of the defendants to be pardoned within a year or two. 
 Meanwhile, the police carefully monitored a rare protest 
march in favor of the defendants on the evening of May 1, in 
which 100-200 young men participated in a peaceful and 
orderly manner.  End summary. 
 
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Verdicts Handed Down 
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2. (U) On May 2, the State Security Court announced verdicts 
for the 31 defendants (reftel) charged with belonging to an 
illegal organization and plotting to overthrow the 
government.  Preliminary information indicates that six 
defendants received 20-year sentences, twelve received 10 
years, twelve received 7 years, and one was sentenced to 1 
year.  Among the highest profile defendants were Shaykh 
Mohammed al-Shi'aili, the official in the Royal Diwan 
responsible for organizing summer religious study programs, 
who received a 20-year sentence; and Shaykh Kahlan 
al-Kharusi, a senior official in the Ministry of Awqaf and 
Religious Affairs who headed the Omani hajj delegation to 
Mecca this year, who received a 10-year sentence.  At least 
one press source quoted Court President Hilal bin Hamad 
al-Busaidi as saying there was process available for 
appealing the verdicts, and also affirming that the Sultan 
could pardon defendants at his discretion. 
 
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Rare Protest March 
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3. (SBU) A protest march in support of the defendants and 
involving 100-200 Omani men took place on the evening of May 
1 in the al-Khuwair neighborhood of greater Muscat, at least 
five kilometers from the chancery.  Many of the participants 
(males only, predominately in their 20's and 30's) are 
believed to have been from among the students of several of 
the arrestees who taught in academic institutions or in local 
mosques.  Some family members are also believed to have taken 
part. 
 
4. (SBU) Calls for the demonstration, with details on time 
and location, first started spreading on the Internet message 
board al-Sablah on April 30.  The word was further spread 
through cellular phone text messaging.  While demonstrations 
are a rarity in Oman and take place, when they do, without 
legal sanction, both police and demonstrators typically 
adhere to an unwritten code of conduct.  In the May 1 march, 
the police allowed the demonstrators to coalesce following 
maghreb prayers (around 7 pm) at the Said bin Taymur Mosque 
and begin their procession towards a commercial intersection 
about two miles distant through a largely residential 
neighborhood.  Riot police barricaded their route at roughly 
the halfway point, however, before the marchers entered a 
more heavily trafficked commercial zone.  The protesters then 
returned along the same route to the Said bin Taymur Mosque 
before dispersing.  No arrests were reported or observed to 
have taken place, and the demonstrators remained at all times 
peaceful and orderly. 
 
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Comment 
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5. (C) The sentences handed down were generally in line with 
expectations.  The Sultan will probably pardon most or all of 
the defendants long before they serve a substantial portion 
of their sentences, perhaps as early as the 35th National Day 
celebrations -- coinciding with his 65th birthday -- in 
November.  We suspect the government is sensitive to the 
notion that a vocal segment of the public -- particularly 
among Ibadhis -- is still unconvinced that the mainstream 
officials and scholars from among the defendants had any 
intent to overthrow the government in favor of an Ibadhi 
religious leader (Imam).  Perhaps by coincidence, the 
demonstrators began their march from the Said bin Taymur 
Mosque, named for the Sultan's father who also happened to be 
the one that abolished the Ibadhi Imamate in the 1950's. 
While the case has touched a nerve in Omani society, it is 
unlikely to generate any significant public protests. 
BALTIMORE