Bin Salman rejects detained princes families’ request to visit

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman rejects families of princes detained in his secret prisons to visit them on the occasion of the blessed month of Ramadan.

An informed source revealed to Saudi Leaks that the princes’ families requested to visit their detained princes on the occasion of the month of Ramadan.

The source confirmed that King Salman transferred that request to the Crown Prince, the de facto ruler, who rejected the humanitarian request.

Bin Salman did not show his dealings with the interference of some senior princes to allow them to visit, and he also showed his intransigence in rejecting their request.

Last December, the families of the princes agreed to send a letter to President Joe Biden explaining the suffering of princes held in secret locations inside the Kingdom.

The families of princes arrested under orders from bin Salman were optimistic after Biden won the US presidential elections amid expectations of organized steps to pressure their release.

In his electoral campaign against the repression and arrests carried out by bin Salman, Biden’s statements prompted the families of the detained princes to start collective protest steps.

The families of the detained princes, through an intermediary, sent an urgent letter to the administration of the new American president before starting his inauguration early next year.

The informed sources added that the families of the princes would support their message with health and human rights reports on the conditions of princes, some of whom suffered health setbacks during their detention.

The Kingdom had witnessed several waves of arrests in recent years, the most recent of which was in March 2020 when about ten prominent family members were arrested.

It included the confiscation of large sums of princes’ money.

The arrest of 37-year-old Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz and his father in 2018 attracted international attention and then sparked a massive campaign for their release.

The reasons for the prince’s arrest, who were inclined to do charitable work and donate some of his wealth to social causes, are not known.

He is also unknown to have political interests or ambitions, but he met California Democrat Adam Schiff during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Since March, the arrests that have taken place have included Prince Ahmed, brother of the ruling king, and Muhammad bin Nayef (MBN), who was overthrown as crown prince in 2017 and charged with treason.

In March, two more arrests raised eyebrows. The detainees are the sons of Interior, Saad al-Jabri, advisor to bin Nayef. He has not seen any of the children since their arrest.

It is widely believed that they are being used as leverage to force Al-Jabri to return to the Kingdom from Canada, where he has been living in exile since 2017, and he has filed a lawsuit against the crown prince in a US court.

Bin Salman carried out the most extensive campaign of arrests that affected more than 381 senior royals and famous economic figures in the Kingdom.

The defendants were arrested at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, from which all the inmates were evacuated, the reservation services were stopped, and all telephone lines were cut off.

“Despite waves of criticism, the illegal behaviour of Saudi authorities during Mohammed bin Salman’s de facto rule continues unabated,” says Michael Page, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch.