Saudi Arabia 'arrests two human rights activists'

<div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi17VPZIY7eGt7MjX2nIL_LwRdI7AbDm7J2_A5cLQyYcmSTaoTGLBxhp9zKFVhhV3RYPCPcc1r3_lsIp7o0Zq_WDBAKg5xz0mygr_F0iLIsAQaxzCo_KDVdSXhYKudWjK6-X_rIDcEeJTY/s1600/hmed+al-Musheikhis+and+Essam+Koshak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Ahmed al-Musheikhis and Essam Koshak" border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi17VPZIY7eGt7MjX2nIL_LwRdI7AbDm7J2_A5cLQyYcmSTaoTGLBxhp9zKFVhhV3RYPCPcc1r3_lsIp7o0Zq_WDBAKg5xz0mygr_F0iLIsAQaxzCo_KDVdSXhYKudWjK6-X_rIDcEeJTY/s400/hmed+al-Musheikhis+and+Essam+Koshak.jpg" title="Ahmed al-Musheikhis and Essam Koshak" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ahmed al-Musheikhis and Essam Koshak</td></tr></tbody></table>The authorities in Saudi Arabia have arrested two human rights activists so far this year, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Essam Koshak and Ahmed al-Musheikhis were summoned for questioning by police in Mecca and Qatif last week.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Officials have not disclosed the reasons for the detentions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/01/11/saudi-arabia-2-rights-advocates-arrested" target="_blank">HRW said</a> they "fit a pattern of ongoing repression" against peaceful advocates and dissidents, at least 25 of whom have been convicted since 2011.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many have been handed sentences as long as 10 or 15 years after being found guilty of charges including "breaking allegiance with the ruler", "sowing discord", "inciting public opinion", "setting up an unlicensed organisation", and violating the cybercrime law.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><h3>'Relentless persecution'</h3></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Koshak was detained after being summoned for interrogation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Mecca on 8 January.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 45-year-old was not allowed to appoint a lawyer and was being questioned about his Twitter account, which he mainly used to tweet about human rights issues,<a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/01/saudi-arabia-steps-up-ruthless-crackdown-against-human-rights-activists/" target="_blank">according to Amnesty</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Musheikhis, a founding member of the unregistered Adala Centre for Human Rights, was telephoned by CID officers and told to report to a police station in Qatif, in Eastern Province, on 5 January. He was subsequently transferred to the city of Dammam, where he remains in custody.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Amnesty said the 46-year-old was known for his work including helping relatives of those detained in Eastern Province as part of protests by members of the kingdom's Shia Muslim minority against what they say is discrimination against them by the Sunni-led government.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Musheikhis' brother, Yussuf, was <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde23/5236/2016/en/" target="_blank">sentenced to death</a> in January 2016 after being convicted of offences including "armed rebellion against the ruler". Amnesty said Yussuf al-Musheikhis was convicted after a grossly unfair trial at which he claimed he was tortured into "confessing".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Amnesty said another activist, Issa al-Nukheifi, had been detained in Mecca since 18 December after being summoned for questioning about his tweets.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Saudi Arabia's relentless persecution of human rights defenders is a blatant campaign aimed at deterring them from speaking about the human rights situation in the country and working on behalf of victims of violations," said Lynn Maalouf of Amnesty's Beirut office.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Saudi government has in the past insisted that its judiciary is independent, and that all trials are transparent and in line with Islamic law.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">HRW also reported on Tuesday that the Saudi authorities had recently banned Jamal Khashoggi, one of the country's most prominent journalists, from publishing any of his writings in the country.</div><br />Source: <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38583673" target="_blank">BBC News</a>, January 11, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Saudi Arabia 'arrests two human rights activists'

Ahmed al-Musheikhis and Essam Koshak The authorities in Saudi Arabia have arrested two human rights activists so far this year, Human Rights...

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