Rattlesnake Ridge      

 
      BFF

“Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday announced that Saudi Arabia had decided to free a number of Egyptian prisoners currently languishing in Saudi jails within the next few days. “There are only a handful of Egyptian prisoners in Saudi Arabia, divided into two groups,” said Ahmed Rageb, assistant foreign minister for consular and immigration affairs. “The first are those who received jail sentences for crimes committed. We can’t do anything about these, because they’re being treated according to Saudi law.” “Those in the second group, however, will be released before the end of October, in line with an agreement we reached with Saudi ambassador to Cairo Ahmed Al-Qattan,” added Rageb……..”

The first group of Egyptian “had received prison sentences and are treated according to ‘Saudi’ law‘” (they are lucky they were not beheaded). Then the “second” group, that will be released soon, was held for what? There is no explanation of why and for how long they have been held. Are they held according to Saudi lawlessness? I know many Saudi citizens are also being held according to the country’s lawlessness (no charges, no trials, no lawyers). Some of the Saudis have been held for months, some for years. The Egyptians may be more fortunate than many of the Saudis: they have a government that looks after their interests if they are arrested without charges. The Saudis have no one to look after their interests if they are arrested without charges (the U.S.  State Department wouldn’t dare).
Khaled al- Jehany has been held since March without a trace, without charges, others have been held for years. Saudi law is what the king and the princes decide since the courts are peopled by tame palace judges and clergy.
Wahhabi faux-liberals in Gulf media tend to overlook these ‘nuances’ of human rights in the region. But they probably have no choice.

Cheers
mhg


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