Saudi dissident suspiciously dies in jail

Rasa - A political prisoner has died under suspicious circumstances in a Saudi prison after four years of imprisonment without trial.

News ID: 426820

Date: 25 January 2017 - 18:46

RNA - The suspicious death of opposition activist Mohammad Razi al-Hasawi was reported Wednesday by European human rights envoy for Saudi Arabian affairs, A’adel al-Saeed.

Saudi officials contacted the relatives of the Shia prisoner last week to summon them to the prosecutor’s office and hand over his personal belongings to them.

Hasawi, who had been held at the Dammam prison for four years, was never tried at a court.

Numerous dissidents have been jailed without trial or on vague charges in Saudi Arabia, where the regime has been cracking down on the Shia population in the country’s Eastern Province since 2011.

In recent days, Saudi forces have routinely raided the homes of people in the Awamiyah region of Eastern Province, taking activists into custody. Saudi police forces also recently placed the al-Masoura neighborhood of Awamiyah under siege. According to reports, they also engaged in aimless shooting while raiding the area in an apparent bid to generate fear among the locals.

On Sunday, it was reported that Saudi forces had, for a second consecutive day, gone on a shooting spree in Awamiyah. The forces targeted both residential and commercial centers, inflicting material damage.

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