State clampdown on `Saudi spring´.

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A few days before last week’s attack by armed militants on the US consulate in the port city of Jeddah, a scuffle was taking place outside a courthouse in the capital, Riyadh. Dozens attended the trial of the “Riyadh Triad”—the three pro-democracy activists jailed since March for calling for a constitutional monarchy. Several people, including journalists and relatives of the trio, were arrested and detained, and the trial proceeded behind closed doors. The trio’s lead attorney, Abdulrahman Al-Lahem, was also absent—he had been arrested and jailed a few weeks earlier for his criticism of judicial practices.