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| Arabia |
| Rights groups slam Saudi arrests of religious figures |
| 2017-09-16 |
| [Al Jazeera] Rights groups have condemned the recent arrests by Saudi authorities of dozens of prominent religious figures, intellectuals and activists this week as "a coordinated crackdown on dissent". The arrests were made ahead of a call by exiled opposition figures for demonstrations following Friday afternoon prayers, which did not appear to attract much support amid a heavy security deployment. On Sunday, online activists said up to 20 influential Saudi religious scholars had been placed in durance vile ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... , including some of the kingdom's most influential preachers. Two days later, there were reports of more detentions of preachers and scholars. Human rights NGO "In recent years, we cannot recall a week in which so many prominent Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... n figures have been targeted in such a short space of time," Amnesty's Samah Hadid said. The organization said the rights situation in the Gulf state had "deteriorated markedly" since Prince Mohammed bin Salman took over as crown prince and heir to the throne on June 21. US-based group Human Rights Watch (HRW) also suggested the arrests could be connected to the prince's efforts to consolidate power. "These apparently politically motivated arrests are another sign that Mohammed bin Salman has no real interest in improving his country's record on free speech and the rule of law," said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East director. Whitson added: "Outlandish sentences against peaceful activists and dissidents demonstrate Saudi Arabia's complete intolerance toward citizens who speak out for human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. and reform." Activists this week circulated on social media lists of people detained, including prominent Islamic preachers Salman al-Awdah and Awad al-Qarni, as well as some people with no clear links to Islamist activity or obvious history of opposition. Awdah and Qarni, who have millions of followers on social media, were among Saudi scholars who opposed the presence of US troops in the kingdom during the 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait. They have both been accused of links to the Moslem Brüderbund, which Saudi Arabia has blacklisted as a "terror group". The detentions follow widespread speculation, denied by officials, that King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosquesand Lord of Most of the Arabians.... bin Abdulaziz Al Saud intends to abdicate to his son, Crown Prince Mohammed, who dominates economic, diplomatic and domestic policy. The Saudi authorities have not commented on the latest arrests of activists. But at the start of the week, the attorney general warned that any attack on "national unity" or the "image of the state" amounted to a "terrorist crime". |
| Posted by:Fred |