Fahid Saad Al-Otaibi posted a video on Twitter denouncing the torture and abuse he was subjected to in Saudi prison while previously detained.
(ANHRI/IFEX) – Cairo on August 12, 2012 – ANHRI denounces the arrest of Fahid Saad Al-Otaibi, on Wednesday, 8 August 2012. Al-Otaibi posted a link to a video on Twitter in which he narrates his experience of abuse and torture while detained for an earlier alleged offence.
Several men dressed in civilian clothes sent by the Saudi security authorities arrested Al-Otaibi as he was leaving his house; they brutally assaulted him and took him to an unknown location. During a phone call to his family Al-Otaibi said that he was in the “Police Department, Criminal Investigation Bureau”, he ignores the charges held against him and asked them to hire a lawyer. He added that the security services will transfer him to another unknown location. Al-Otaibi was previously detained in a political prison affiliated with the General Investigation Bureau for a year and four months without trial.
ANHRI said that: “Al-Otaibi’s arrest was due to his activity on Twitter where he posted details of the abuse and torture he suffered during his time in prison. He posted a video addressing the families of the detainees explaining what kind of abuse and torture their sons may encounter in Saudi prisons. He exposed the brutality of the Saudi regime against its people, which is deemed to be a violation of all conventions and human rights treaties.”
ANHRI expresses its resentment for the continued and intense hostility of the Saudi Arabian regime especially against freedom of the Internet and freedom in general. It also denounces the fact that the regime is so oblivious to the need for reforms as regards human rights and its focus on suppressing the freedoms and rights of citizens.
ANHRI urges the Saudi authorities to immediately release Al-Otaibi, guarantee his safety and not prosecute him legally due to trumped-up charges.
ANHRI also calls on all activists around the world to shed the light on the regime’s tyranny against its citizens and not let it go unnoticed.
