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Saudi sentences 10 Egyptians to prison for marking October War

October 11, 2022 at 1:22 pm

A solitary confinement cell, on October 3, 2022 [Photo by Thibaud MORITZ / AFP]

A Saudi court yesterday sentenced ten Egyptians of Nubian origins to prison terms ranging from ten to 18 years for organising a cultural event in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, three years ago, AFP reported.

The agency quoted a relative of one of the detainees as saying: “I feel very angry at the extreme injustice that our people have been subjected to.”

The men had been convicted of “forming a group without a license” and “forming a terrorist group”. The decision is not final and can be appealed.

Saudi authorities arrested the ten Egyptians in October 2019 for trying to organise an event to commemorate the October 1973 war; an event they held annually in the kingdom without facing any challenges or objection from local authorities.

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They were released in December of the same year, before being detained again the following July.

International human rights organisations including Amnesty International have called for the men to be freed, describing their trial procedures as a “mockery of justice”.

In a statement issued last August, the rights watchdog said that Saudi Arabia is prosecuting the ten Egyptians “just because they exercised their rights to freedom of expression and assembly by organising a community event and forming a community association to represent them.”

It explained that they “were prevented from contacting their family on a regular basis, and were only allowed access to government-appointed lawyers.”

Saudi Arabia and its disregards for human rights - Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

Saudi Arabia and its disregards for human rights – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]