Saudi Security Forces Detain Shiite Activist in Awamiyah

Rasa - Saudi security forces attacked a residential area in Northern al-Awamiyah village in Eastern Province and detained a Shiite political activist.

News ID: 426619

Date: 17 January 2017 - 21:22

RNA - Social media activists reported on their twitter pages that the Saudi forces took the Shiite activist to an unknown place after detaining him in al-Awamiyah near al-Qatif city.

In another development earlier this month, an independent human rights organization said that Saudi Arabia arrested two rights campaigners for their online activities amid unrelenting crackdown on free speech in the kingdom.

[Persian] Gulf Center for Human Rights said in a press release published on its website that Essam Koshak and Ahmed al-Mshikhs were taken into custody early January.

The center voiced grave concern over the arrests as there were no charges against the men, adding that “their online activities” are believed to be the reason behind their detention.

The center "believes that these arrests are solely due to the two men exercising their legitimate and peaceful right to freedom of opinion and freedom of expression and conducting their work in the field of human rights”.

Mshikhs, the co-founder of the Al-Adalah Center for Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, was detained on Thursday in the district of Qatif. He had tweeted a Nativity scene showing the birth of Christ on Christmas Day.

Koshak, who describes himself as a rights defender, was nabbed in Mecca on Sunday. He had tweeted Western media reports about Saudi Arabia and re-tweeted posts from the banned Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association.

The Riyadh regime is under fire for its dire rights record inside and outside the kingdom.

However, Saudi Arabia's membership in the United Nations Human Rights Council was renewed last year despite widespread criticisms.

The country has a high number of executions and disappointing women's rights record while banning the public practice of any form of religion other than Islam.

Saudi Arabia is also widely seen as a major sponsor of terrorist groups wreaking havoc mainly in the Middle East region. It is also waging a deadly aggression against neighboring Yemen.

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