Saudi Arabia: 'Brian O’Connor, a Christian guest worker from India, was produced before an Islamic court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on September 15, nearly six months after he was arrested, tortured and jailed for allegedly “spreading Christianity” in the strict Islamic kingdom. O’Connor’s hearing occurred just hours before U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell named Saudi Arabia as one of eight “countries of particular concern” for its “gross infringements of religious freedom.” The U.S. State Department’s annual religious freedom report on Saudi Arabia noted that “non-Muslim worshippers risk arrest, imprisonment, lashing, deportation and sometimes torture.” During his 90-minute hearing, O’Connor was informed for the first time of the legal charges against him, which include possession of alcohol, possession of pornographic movies and preaching Christianity. It was not clear whether any evidence was produced to support the possession charges. O’Connor himself has acknowledged that he led Bible studies for expatriate Christians in his home.' (Compass Direct)