Saudi reform advocates say the authorities arrested a prominent activist, Abdullah Al Hamed on Thursday, along with his brother and five women, after a protest to call for the release of family members detained for several years without charge.Fifteen women, led by Rima Al Juraish, had held a protest on Monday in front of the main security headquarters at Al Qassim province north of the capital, Riyadh.
Mrs JuraishÂ’s husband, Mohamed Al Hamly has been held for three years on suspicion of links to Islamic militants. The women said their detained relatives had no access to lawyers and were being mistreated in prison. They said they should be released or tried.
Saudi reformists say police came to Mrs JuraishÂ’s home to arrest her and some of the women who protested with her. Mr Hamed was called and when he asked the security services to show him a warrant, he too was detained.
The Saudi authorities have arrested thousands of people in their efforts to combat al Qaeda and groups inspired by it. Many have been released, but activists say some 3,000 remain under arrest.
“Why are there no trials for these people?,” asked Khaled Al Omair, a Saudi reformer. “We believe it is because most of them were arrested only because they have a friend or a relative who is an Islamic militant.”
Mr Al Omair said he and Mr Al Hamed were among a group of reformers who wrote a letter to King Abdullah three month ago asking him to address human rights grievances and to take steps against the interior ministry.
The Saudi authorities say they are committed to reform but in recent years they have moved against reform advocates who tried to press publicly for change or to collect signatures for petitions demanding improvements.
In February ten reformers were arrested at a meeting in the port city of Jeddah.
Mr Al Hamed, and two other activists, spent 17 months in jail until they were freed by King Abdullah shortly after he ascended the throne in 2005.
A university professor who was sacked from his job because of his political activism, Mr Hamed played a key role in drafting and circulating petitions calling for Saudi Arabia to become a constitutional monarchy in the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks at a time when the kingdom and its rulers were shaken by the discovery that most of the bombers were Saudi nationals.
King Abdullah, then Crown Prince, welcomed the first petition and met some of its signatories, but afterwards the reform advocates came under intense pressure to cease their activism.