A Saudi court handed a sheikh a 12-year jail sentence after he led prayers on the grounds of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul several years ago, a human rights monitor said on Thursday. Saudi imam and Quran reciter Abdullah Basfar was tried and sentenced on Wednesday, “in the context of accepting an invitation to lead worshippers in the courtyard of the Hagia Sophia mosque in Turkey,” Saudi rights organisation Prisoners of Conscience said. “We condemn the ruling… and we call on the authorities to release him unconditionally,” the monitor added. Basfar was a renowned religious figure in the count…