Compass – Amman

Today, Wednesday, the Saudi authorities released a new Jordanian detainee, the fourth in a matter of days.

Sources revealed to Al-Bawsala agency, “The detainee, Muhammad Fatafta, arrived in the Jordanian capital, Amman, after serving his sentence of four years, on charges of supporting the resistance.”

Al-Fatafa was sentenced to 6 months in prison, then the sentence was increased in the Court of Cassation to three years, but his release was not carried out until four years later, i.e. after a year of the term he was sentenced to.

The “Prisoners of Conscience” account, which follows the affairs of detainees for political backgrounds in Saudi Arabia, tweeted yesterday, Wednesday, about the release of Fatafta.

The Saudi authorities had released the Palestinian engineer, Suleiman Haddad, and his son, Yahya, in addition to the Jordanian detainee, Muhammad Asaad.

The Saudi authorities had arrested dozens of Palestinians and Jordanians in 2019, and brought them to trial on charges of supporting the Palestinian resistance.

Earlier, the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, considered Saudi Arabia’s decision to release the detainees a “step in the right direction.”

In previous statements, the Islamic Action Front party expressed its regret over the rulings issued against Jordanian and Palestinian detainees in Saudi prisons, on charges related to supporting the Palestinian resistance, calling for the retraction of these rulings, the release of the detainees, and the closing of this file.

The families of the detainees staged dozens of sit-ins in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Saudi Embassy in Amman, and in front of the House of Representatives. to demand the release of their children.

The Committee of Jordanian Detainees in Saudi Arabia had called for the release of 25 Jordanian detainees accused by the authorities there of supporting the resistance.

In a report published on November 4, Human Rights Watch criticized what it called “intensified repression and abusive practices aimed at silencing opponents and critics” in Saudi Arabia.

In a report titled “The Heavy Price of Change: Intensifying Repression during the reign of Mohammed bin Salman Distorts Reforms,” she indicated that “despite the prominent reforms in favor of women and youth, the continuous violations show that the rule of law is still weak, and may be undermined whenever the political leadership in the Kingdom wishes.”

The organization pointed out that “the arrest of citizens for peacefully criticizing government policies or advocating for rights is not new in Saudi Arabia, but the huge number and wide spectrum of targets within a short period of time, as well as new repressive practices, made waves of arrests after 2017 (when Bin Salman was chosen as crown prince). ) NB”.