Saudi prosecutors are seeking death penalty against 25 of the 32 people which the kingdom has detained since2013.
The men are accused of spying for Iran but the charge sheet, which Human Rights Watch said it had reviewed, contains numerous allegations that do not resemble recognizable crimes.
According to the New York-based rights group, the defendants are accused ofsupporting demonstrations, harming the reputation of the kingdom, and attempting to spread the Shia confession.
The kingdom began trying the menin February 2016 at the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh.
According to Human Rights Watch, Saudiauthorities have not permitted the defendants to meet with lawyers or provided all of the court documents necessary to prepare a defense aftermore than three yearsof detention and investigation.
This trial is shaping up as another stain on Saudi Arabias grossly unfair criminal justice system, said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East director.
Criminal trials should not be merely legal window-dressing where the verdict has been decided beforehand, she said.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"]
File photo of Specialized Criminal Court in Saudi Arabia[/caption]According to the charge sheet, the defendants include 30 Saudis, and one Iranian and one Afghan citizen.
An individual with direct knowledge of the case has told Human Rights Watch that all but one of the Saudi defendants are Shia Muslims.
Local Saudi media outlets reportedin March that some of the defense lawyers refused to participate in court proceedings.
Saudi Arabias Shia citizens face systematic discriminationin public education, government employment, and permission to build houses of worship in the country.
Riyadh has long been under fire at the international level for its grim human rights record.
Human Rights Watch said it had obtained and analyzedseven Specialized Criminal Court judgments from 2013 and 2014 against men and children accused of protest-related crimes following demonstrations by members of the Shia minority.
"In all seven trials, detainees allegedthat confessions were extracted through torture, but judges quickly dismissed these allegations, admitted the confessions as evidence, and then convicted the detainees."
By Press TV
