Saudi Arabia prevents detained journalist from attending son's funeral

Saudi Arabia has refused to temporarily release the detained Yemeni journalist, Marwan Al-Mureisi, to attend the burial of his son, Sanad, who died on Sunday, the Prisoners of Conscience Twitter page announced yesterday.

🔴 BREAKING
Saudi authorities prevent the detained journalist Marwan al-Muraisi from temporary release to attend the burial of his child Sanad who died yesterday.#مروان_المريسي pic.twitter.com/fsmI4Bh7NG

— Prisoners of Conscience (@m3takl_en) January 2, 2020

The rights group pointed out that Al-Mureisi’s family had postponed Sanad’s burial, hoping that the authorities would release him ahead of the boy’s farewell. The Saudi the authorities were intransigent and had to pray to him without his presence,” the anti-regime page said.

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 “The funeral prayer will take place shortly for Sanad, son of the detained journalist Al-Mureisi, in the absence of his father, who was not allowed by the local authorities to not even be temporarily freed,” the prisoners’ rights page said on Twitter.

“It has become clear that the delay in Sanad’s burial was in hopes for his father to attend, but the authorities [Saudi] were intransigent and completely ignored the humanitarian situation of Al-Mureisi’s family,” the page added.