The families of Saudi political detainees held a protest inside two shopping centres in the capital Riyadh, calling upon the government to release their relatives or put them on trial last night (June 6, 2012).
The protests took place in Sahara Mall and Hayat Mall, located in one of the most populated areas, and it included people from both genders and all ages, calling for the freedom of their relatives, many of whom are held without charges or access to trial. The protestors yelled “Release the detainees,” which is a hadith – or saying by Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).
Netizens covered the story, giving us live updates on Twitter and YouTube.
Here is a video by sFreearab that combines photographs and video scenes of what has been documented:
On Twitter, Saudis gave different viewpoints on what was happening. Below are some of their comments:
#مظاهرات_صحارى_مول #رجب16 تجمع ناجح وتنظيم سريع ومكان موفق ونقل جيد للحدث. مالم يفك عشرات الألاف من علماء وشباب الأمة فإن الأمور ستزداد حدة~
@jojo2jojo#مظاهرات_صحارى_مول ماذا تقولون عن أطفالي عندما داهمونا المباحث وزوجي مقيد أمامهم واختطفوه وهل هذا من الأمن !! وهذا من اقل ما يفعلون
There has been some news that protestors have been arrested as Saudi Jeans published in his blog post covering the story.
Ahmed Al Omran writes:
Mohammad al-Abdulaziz said on Twitter that his brother and his family (wife and three children) have been arrested. It is said that more people have been arrested.
Mohammed Al-Abdulaziz tweeted about his family members who were arrested:
Other Twitter users confirm more arrests.
ممن اعتقل هذا اليوم عبد الله عبد الرحمن العيدان ، هيلة عبد الله العيدان وخادمتها ، إلهي كن لهم واحفظهم بحفظك ومن معهم جميعًا #رجب16
At 4am, Mohammed Al-Abdulaziz announced:
At 6am, another update followed:
Last but not least, Fatima Al Habeeb comments:
@Falhabeeb: بس كذا؟ بكل بساطة تجون وتضفونهم كلهم؟#مظاهرات_صحارى_مول #مظاهرات_حياة_مول
For more on Saudi detainees, check out the Twitter account @SaudiDetainees.
3 comments