Gulf | Saudi Arabia
Saudi authorities keep mum over detention of Bahrainis
The Bahraini embassy in Riyadh has yet to receive new information about eight Bahrainis who have been held in a prison near Riyadh in a case steeped in secrecy.
- By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
- Published: 23:39 May 16, 2008
Manama: The Bahraini embassy in Riyadh has yet to receive new information about eight Bahrainis who have been held in a prison near Riyadh in a case steeped in secrecy.
"We are following up letters submitted by relatives of the eight detainees to the Bahraini ambassador and the Saudi authorities, but we have nothing new on the case," Mousa Al Naimi, first secretary at the embassy, said on Friday in a press statement.
The detention of the detainees, most of whom are teachers, has baffled Bahrain in the absence of formal charges or official explanations from the Saudi authorities. Bahraini officials said they were closely monitoring the case.
A Bahraini human rights watchdog last week expressed concern that the detention of eight Shiite Bahrainis in a Saudi jail may be motivated by sectarian tension plaguing the region.
The Bahrainis have been held in a Saudi prison since February 29, allegedly after they strayed into a military zone near Riyadh, the capital. In the absence of full information from competent authorities, speculation is rife about their detention.
'Concerned'
"We are deeply concerned that the eight detainees are in fact the victims of political conflicts and sectarian tensions in the region," the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights said in a statement sent to Gulf News.
"We call for their immediate release if there is no evidence they committed a crime or a felony. We also urge the authorities to allow their families and their lawyers to visit them regularly," the watchdog said.
Despite efforts by Bahraini diplomats posted in Riyadh, Shaikh Hassan Al Saffar, a Saudi religious leader, and Turki Al Sudairi, head of the Saudi Human Rights Commission, little has transpired about their detention.
Eventually, 55 days after they were arrested, the detainees were allowed to meet separately and for about one hour with their relatives in the Haer prison near Riyadh.
"They told their relatives they had driven two cars on back roads from a tourism site towards the Saudi capital, but got lost and after an hour ended up near a military base where they were arrested and put in solitary confinement," the centre said.
Last Sunday, four opposition groups, Al Wefaq, Islamic Action, the National Democratic Action and the Democratic Forum called on Bahraini and Saudi authorities to draw on their special relations and work on releasing the men.
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