clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Rights Group: Saudi Arabia releases ten Ritz-Carlton businessmen

January 30, 2019 at 3:21 am

Saudi Arabia has released ten businessmen arrested in the kingdom’s so-called crackdown on corruption some 15 months ago, the Prisoners of Conscience rights group said on Twitter.

“The Saudi authorities have released ten Ritz-Carlton detainees over the past two days” the account posted without revealing its sources.

According to the account, the released detainees included Ethiopian-born billionaire, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al- Amoudi who was arrested in November 2017.

The Saudi authorities did not comment on the report, but Ethiopian television confirmed earlier that Al- Amoudi had been released.

 Saudi signs $54.4bn of deals, offers manufacturing incentives

The Saudi authorities arrested dozens of former and current princes, businessmen and senior officials and detained at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh in early November 2017.

At the time, Saudi opponents said the campaign is a “trick” to bolster Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s influence.

In the following few months, the Saudi authorities released a number of the detained businessmen after financial settlements that reached 400 billion riyals, equivalent to about $107 billion.