Saudi women complain over "militant" kin detention
RIYADH, July 16 (Reuters) - Wives of Saudi men detained on suspicion of links to militant groups complained to the authorities on Monday, saying their husbands should be released or face a public trial, families said.
"Our husbands and sons are in prison ... We have sent telegrams and we've gone to the Human Rights Commission but it's useless. So we are staging this sit-in," Rima al-Juraish said by telephone. She said she was speaking from outside a state security headquarters in the Qassim region north of Riyadh.
She said the women wanted cases involving their families brought to court, legal representation for the men, an end to "mistreatment" and their return to a local prison.
Juraish said the detainees, who have been held for periods ranging from two to five years, were removed to Riyadh last month for induction in a "correction" programme run by clerics that authorities say has led more than 700 suspects to "repent".
"My husband was detained three years ago but it's a trivial case. They say they are (militants) but they are not," she said, adding police had cordoned the small group off from passers-by.
An Interior Ministry spokesman was not available for comment. A prison official said it was an Interior Ministry issue.
Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz said earlier this month that about 3,000 people remained in detention out of a total of 9,000 arrested since Islamist militants launched a campaign against the U.S.-allied absolute monarchy in May 2003.
Officials have suggested that some detainees would be put on trial this year, and called on clerics in the Islamic state to dissuade Saudis from joining militant groups in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter.
Khaled al-Omair, an Islamist reform activist held for six months in 2005, said many detainees were wrongfully arrested and praised the women for trying to draw attention to the issue.
"It's an important step ... 80 percent (of detainees) have no link with cases of violence," he said, adding they may have had a friend, relative or old contact connected to groups.
"That's their only crime."
"Our husbands and sons are in prison ... We have sent telegrams and we've gone to the Human Rights Commission but it's useless. So we are staging this sit-in," Rima al-Juraish said by telephone. She said she was speaking from outside a state security headquarters in the Qassim region north of Riyadh.
She said the women wanted cases involving their families brought to court, legal representation for the men, an end to "mistreatment" and their return to a local prison.
Juraish said the detainees, who have been held for periods ranging from two to five years, were removed to Riyadh last month for induction in a "correction" programme run by clerics that authorities say has led more than 700 suspects to "repent".
"My husband was detained three years ago but it's a trivial case. They say they are (militants) but they are not," she said, adding police had cordoned the small group off from passers-by.
An Interior Ministry spokesman was not available for comment. A prison official said it was an Interior Ministry issue.
Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz said earlier this month that about 3,000 people remained in detention out of a total of 9,000 arrested since Islamist militants launched a campaign against the U.S.-allied absolute monarchy in May 2003.
Officials have suggested that some detainees would be put on trial this year, and called on clerics in the Islamic state to dissuade Saudis from joining militant groups in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter.
Khaled al-Omair, an Islamist reform activist held for six months in 2005, said many detainees were wrongfully arrested and praised the women for trying to draw attention to the issue.
"It's an important step ... 80 percent (of detainees) have no link with cases of violence," he said, adding they may have had a friend, relative or old contact connected to groups.
"That's their only crime."
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