AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): A number of dissident Saudi prisoners have begun an open-ended hunger strike in protest at their solitary confinement and mistreatment by prison authorities as a crackdown led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman against rights campaigners and intellectuals widens in the conservative oil-rich kingdom.
The rights group Prisoners of Conscience, which is an independent non-governmental organization seeking to promote human rights in Saudi Arabia, announced in a post on its official Twitter page that prominent human rights lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair and blogger Raif Badawi have been on hunger strike since December 11.
It added that imprisoned activist Khaled al-Omair joined the action on December 22, and stressed that he will not give up the hunger strike until his release.
He has roundly dismissed Saudi Arabia’s so-called anti-terrorism law, and demanded an urgent meeting with a UN representative.
Earlier this year, the Prisoners of Conscience announced that renowned imprisoned activists Abdullah al-Hamid, Abdulrahman al-Hamid – a member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) -- Abdulkareem al-Khodor, Fawzan al-Harbi and Mohammad Fahed al-Qahatani had gone on hunger strike.
The rights group noted at the time that the hunger strikers were calling for the release of all dissidents and pro-democracy activists, as well as all prisoners who had been arbitrarily imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression.
Saudi Arabia has stepped up politically-motivated arrests, prosecution and conviction of peaceful dissident writers and human rights campaigners.
Over the past years, Riyadh has also redefined its anti-terrorism laws to target activism.
In January 2016, Saudi authorities executed Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, who was an outspoken critic of the Riyadh regime. Nimr had been arrested in Qatif, Eastern Province, in 2012.
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23 December 2019 - 16:30
News ID: 995900
A number of dissident Saudi prisoners have begun an open-ended hunger strike in protest at their solitary confinement and mistreatment by prison authorities as a crackdown led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman against rights campaigners and intellectuals widens in the conservative oil-rich kingdom.
