Saudi Arabia continues to execute reformers

4 Comments / 4 Comments

1. @ Ted Belman: Thanks for acknowledging my research, Ted, minimal though it was. I haven’t yet checked out the pro-Saudi or more or less neutral Arab newspapers to see how they are reporting this story.

   However, past allegations that the Saudis have executed people merely for being ‘dissidents” have turned out to be false when I looked into them.
   Sometimes people have jbeen jailed for publicly criticizing the government, and especialy the king. But I have failed to uncover a single case of a nonviolent dissident being executed. The Saudis have occasionally executed individuals involved in terorist attacks against the Saudi government Saudi civilians, or British and American soldiers.. But these executions have been few in number, and there was always legitimate evidence that these individuals had participated in terrorist attacks. The individuals convicted were allowed to appeal their sentences for several years, and were executed only after they had exhaussted all appeals to the higher courts. Most of these individuals were connected to the al-Quaida or IS organizations, which have targeted the Saudi royal family.

   In the past, my research into the executed “dissidents” also revealed that most of these individuals were not dissidents at all, but individuals convicted of “ordinary” crimes such as murder and rape that had no political motivation. There have also been some cases of women executed for alleged adultery, which is indefensible morally from our Western point of view. However, the number of executions for this alleged “crime” have diminished greatly since MBS became Crown Prince.

   A small number of feminist activists have been imprisoned for defying Saudi laws that discriminate against women, such as the driving ban (recently lifted, however, by MBS) or going shopping and walking on the streets without a male escort. However, most were released after serving brief sentences. A few feminists who have been persistent and public critics of the Saudi government, especally in interviews with foreign newspapers, are still in jail. But I haven’t found reports that any have died in jail, or even been denied visits from relatives or their lawyers.

   Iran executes vastly more people every year than Saudi Arabia. And it has imprisoned a much larger number of political dissidents. This makes their propaganda about Saudi human rights violations hypocritical as well as deceitful.

2. @ Adam Dalgliesh:
   Thanks for your very important research. The alleged Saudi conduct seemed very extreme but I didn’t think of checking out the story.

   Al Jazeera is owned by Qatar who is an enemy of Saudi Arabia.

3. I just checked wikipedia. . Inside Story is a daily program of Al Jazeera English. Al Jazeera English is an extremely well-financed and large online newspaper funded by the pro-Iranian and extremely wealthy Qatari government. It is also closely tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, who are not “reformers.”

4. This is an outrageously biased report. No evidence that ant ‘reformers” have been put to death. No evidence that the three ‘religious scholars” have been or will be sentenced to death. The ‘religious scholars” are not reformers but opponents of reform supporters of strict Sharia law, and supporters of the MUslim Brotherhood.. The “Shiite activists” are individuals who have engaged in terrorist attacks or armed insurrections directed by Iran in Saudia Arabia’s predominantly Shi’ite eastern province.

   There is a massive international propaganda campaign to overthrow MBS with distortions and outright lies. I can’t think of any reason for it other than the Muslim Brotherhood and Israel-haters in the Western press and governments are behind it. MBS’s rumored desire for reconciliation with Israel and support for Trump’s “deal of the century” has angered many powerful people in the West (for example, Barak Obama and John Kerry), who hate Israel and are sympathetic to the Islamist movement. There are many such individuals in the British Foreign Office and BBC ( a government owned and controlled press agency) .

   By the way–what broadcasting channel-site is this video taken from? BBC? Al Jazeera? Ted, can you provide us with information about the source?