19 men were charged on October 17th
with “instigating chaos and sedition” and “gathering illegally”
by the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution for protesting
peacefully outside of Turfiya prison, which is in Qassim province in
central Saudi Arabia, back in September. These men gathered without
any chaos in hopes for the release of family members, some of which
have been held for years without charge. On the 18th of
October 15 of the 19 men were sentenced between 3 and 15 days in
prison, as well as suspended sentences of between 50 and 90 lashes
and suspended jail terms of between two and five months. The other
four men are still waiting for their trial which is scheduled for
November 4th. As Joe Stork who is the deputy Middle East
director at Human Rights Watch said, “Instead of addressing the
protesters' concerns, the Saudi government has used judicial system
to punish them. The sentences handed to these men are part of a wider
effort to target and harass activist across the country.” During
this protest it was said that none of the protesters engaged in or
called for violence, but still they were blocked off from food and
water by security forces. There was also a video from the September
23 incident which showed the police beating the demonstrators of the
protest.
The rights of these 19 men were clearly
taken away being as they were only practicing one of the rights they
are suppose to have being citizens of Saudi Arabia. These men were
not breaking any laws and were not causing any trouble, but still
they were incarcerated. Their right to peacefully assemble was taken
away from them for no reason and the judicial system was used to
punish them for it even though peacefully assembling is not a crime.
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