MOROCCANS RALLY TO DEMAND RELEASE OF SAUDI PRISONERS

        Rabat, 22 Rabiul Akhir 1434/4 March 2013 (MINA) – Moroccans have staged a protest rally to demand the release of Saudi Arabia’s political prisoners, including women.

        On Sunday, Moroccans took to the streets calling on Riyadh to release the prisoners detained during anti-government protests, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
        The protest came in reaction to Saudi security forces’ arrest of over 300 people, including 15 women, during an anti-regime protest in the central town of Buraidah on March 1.
        On the same day, Amnesty International condemned the arrest of protesters who were holding a peaceful demonstration for the release of “more than 50 women and children” detained after a similar protest on February 27.

         “This cat and mouse game authorities in Saudi Arabia are playing is, simply, outrageous,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty’s director for the Middle East and North Africa.

          “Instead of persecuting peaceful protesters, what the Saudi authorities should do is listen to their demands and release all those held solely for exercising their human rights,” he added.
         Saudi activists say there are more than 30,000 political prisoners, mostly prisoners of conscience, in jails across the Kingdom.
         According to the activists, most of the detained political thinkers are being held by the government without trial or legitimate charges and have been arrested for merely looking suspicious. (T/P09/E1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).