RIYADH — Saudi authorities have freed 100 protesters arrested last week while staging a sit-in to demand the release of prisoners in the city of Buraida, police said on Wednesday.
“One hundred people were released” on Tuesday of the 176 people arrested in Buraida, capital of the northern Qassim province, said police spokesman Colonel Fahd Al Habdan. “Procedures are continuing to free nine more prisoners."
| How badly were they beaten prior to release? |
Authorities have accused the protesters of acting on behalf of “deviant groups” — a term they usually use to refer to the Al Qaeda network.
Saudi rights activists say those jailed are extremist political prisoners.
Small groups of women have gathered almost daily in Buraida, north of Riyadh, to demand the release of imprisoned Islamist relatives, and dozens of protesters held a rare sit-in outside the Buraida prison in September. |