Ex-Saudi prosecutor announces opposition to regime

Saudi lawyer, former prosecutor and legal adviser, Mohammed Al-Meshal Al-Qahtani, yesterday announced his opposition to “the Saudi regime and its policies”.

In a video on YouTube, Al-Qahtani explained that his opposition was a result of the Saudi regime’s “repressive policies, violations to the rights of the Saudi citizens, and the aggravation of poverty and unemployment across the country.”

Al-Qahtani, who currently lives in the British capital London, stressed his support for “all those who oppose the Saudi regime,” which he described as “based on absolute tyranny and corruption”.

The Saudi politician condemned “the kingdom’s arrest, torture and killing of intellectuals and clerks in prisons.”

READ: Saudi Arabia opens up consulate after journalist vanishes

Anti-regime Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, went missing on Tuesday after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get documents for his forthcoming marriage. Saudi officials have stressed that he left shortly afterwards but his fiancée, who was waiting outside, said he never came out.

Officials have said that “the initial assessment of the Turkish police is that Mr. Khashoggi has been killed at the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul. We believe that the murder was premeditated and the body was subsequently moved out of the consulate.”

Yasin Aktay, who advises Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan in his ruling AK Party, told Reuters that Turkish authorities believed a group of 15 Saudi nationals were “most certainly involved” in the matter.