My brothers and I went this morning to the court here in Ahssa to finish some regular paper work. It was past 9 AM when we arrived to the court building. We entered the main hall to find a lot of people waiting while the court employees were chitchatting in different corners of their offices. None of the judges has arrived yet, we were told. The employees were sitting doing nothing because they could not turn on their computers. They told us if they turned on their computers the electricity in the building would blackout. (!) We were told to get back on Saturday, not even Wednesday! Some people blamed Amr Al Faisal when he ripped into the Jeddah court. Take that!
So, in what is expected to be yet another mockery in the Saudi legal system, Abdullah Al Hamed and his brother Isa were told to appear in a criminal court in Buraida next Saturday over their involvement in the women’s demonstration that was held in July. “The charge is that they incited the women to stage a sit-in, and tried to break through a security cordon,” Khalid Al Omair, a fellow activist, told AFP. These charges sound dubious, but with a legal system like ours anything can happen.
The only good thing about this rather disturbing piece of news is that the trial would be open to public. It will be a chance for those supporting the reforms to make a statement by showing up at the court on Saturday morning, and hopefully a big crowd would draw the attention of public and media.
Related Link:
- Mohammed Al Bejadi, another activist involved with the demonstration, was arrested earlier today. (Arabic)
4 Comments
will they be judged according to evidence?
besides: is there a specific law that prohibits people from demonstrating? (I mean where this is written down explicitly)
Hello, i´m here agian, I want say that your blogger is very useful to all people that like or want know more about arabic countries.. I read your blog long time, and i apreciete your point of view about subjects. Salam
please write something about Ramadã
I am a regular reader of your blog from Al Hasa.
Bold and powerful.
Hi, Ahmed. I also regularly read your blog. I like it a lot and I am very much interested in Saudia and would like to learn more about Buraida from your blog. Wish you all the best.