The father of the Weekes triplets - killed in the Doha mall fire - has described further delays in criminal appeals as "inhumane".
Five people - including two with close connections to the Qatar government - have appealed being sentenced to jail terms of up to six years over the 2012 Villaggio Mall fire, which killed 19 people.
During the short hearing on Monday, lawyers for the Gympanzee Mall, which did not have a proper licence, argued the fire was just like any other in Qatar but had been sensationalised by media coverage, the Doha News reports.
The co-owners were victims themselves, not perpetrators, they said.
The appeal hearing was then put off until December because a new judge had been appointed and needed to be brought up to speed on the case.
The appeal was lodged in November last year and has been delayed on separate dates because defendants failed to turn up and then because a defendant's lawyer wanted to go on holiday.
The defendants remain free while the appeal process is under way.
New Zealand-born two-year-old triplets Lillie, Jackson and Willsher Weekes died in the mall's Gympanzee daycare centre during the fire.
"It is frustrating and completely illogical that a judge could be changed part way through a trial process simply for administrative purposes," their father, Martin Weekes, told the Doha website.
"It's just yet another example of how inhumanely (sic) the process is for the victims and their families."
Earlier this year, Mr Weekes told AAP the delays had been so numerous that he and his wife, Jane, were the only family of victims who were still able to afford a lawyer.
"What I hope is that the people involved give our children the respect that they deserve, and stand up for what they did and accept responsibility."
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