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Saudi Arabia extradites Egyptian national after 8-month detention

July 19, 2018 at 1:29 pm

Egyptian national, Mohamed Mokhtar has been expelled by Saudi authorities [The New Khalij]

The Saudi authorities have expelled an Egyptian national to his home country after detaining him extrajudicially for eight months.

The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF), a non-governmental human rights organisation, said in a statement that Saudi Arabia had flown Mohamed Mokhtar to Cairo on Wednesday against his will.

Mokhtar had worked as a sales manager in a Saudi-based company for 10 years before he was arrested on 19 October 2017 and accused of engaging in political activities opposed to the Egyptian regime.

ECRF added that Mokhtar was detained in a prison in Riyadh before he was flown to Cairo.

Read: Saudi authorities arrest defence ministry official charged with bribery

While in prison, Mokhtar’s family repeatedly sought help from the Egyptian embassy in Riyadh, but to no avail, according to ECRF.

The human rights organisation called on the Egyptian authorities to release Mokhtar since he was not convicted in any court of law in Egypt or Saudi Arabia.

Since the 2013 military coup led by then-defence minister Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Saudi Arabia has been a strong ally and supporter of the ruling regime in Egypt.

Conversely, Riyadh had opposed Egypt’s 2011 Uprising that toppled long-serving president Hosni Mubarak. The monarchy, it is believed, fears the calls for democratic change would, eventually, threaten its own rule.