Saudi Arabia allows Palestinian prisoner to call their relatives

Saudi Arabia allowed Palestinian prisoners to call their relatives during the Eid holiday, senior Hamas official Mohammed Nazzal revealed today.

Nazzal said in a press release that authorities prevented family visits for Palestinian prisoners in its jails but allowed them to make phone calls.

He added that there are 65 Palestinian prisoners being detained in the kingdom, each was given five minutes to speak to their families.

Prison authorities also allowed the son of Dr Mohammed Al Khodari to stay with him in his cell in order to help him as he is unable to move due to illness.

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Saudi Arabia arrested dozens of Palestinian students, academics and residents arbitrarily a year ago, including Muhammad Al-Khodari, the official representative of Hamas in the Kingdom. No formal charges have been made against them.

According to human rights organisations, some of the detainees whose fate is still unknown have already been tried. Quds Press understands that the Saudi authorities took just over 60 of the Palestinians living in the Kingdom to court on 8 March. Some of them are holders of Jordanian passports.

Despite the continuous attempts by Hamas to communicate with Saudi officials while calling repeatedly for the release of the detainees, Riyadh has simply taken further measures against the Palestinian prisoners.