Year after KSA’s arbitrary arrest of dozens of Palestinians

A full year has passed since the Saudi authorities arbitrarily arrested scores of Palestinians residing in the Kingdom in its prisons, amid widespread international human rights denunciations.

Among the detainees are the representative of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Kingdom, Muhammad Al-Khudari, his son, and dozens of other Palestinians.

Hamas said in a statement that the Saudi authorities of the detain dozens of Palestinians and their sponsors of the brotherly Saudi people, not for an offense they committed, except that they did not forget the question of Palestine, and worked to support and support it by legal and legitimate means, in line with their national duty.

Hamas expressed its condemnation of the continued detention of al-Khudari and his son, and the rest of the arrested Palestinians pending the same case, calling on the Saudi authorities to release all detainees, especially in light of the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, and the real risks it poses to the lives of the detainees, and increase their suffering and the suffering of their families.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International called on King Salman to release the arrested Palestinians, Muhammad al-Khudari and his son Hani, stressing that their trial failed to comply with international fair trial standards.

“Given the current pandemic of Covid-19 and the poor health of Al-Khudari, we urge Your Majesty to secure his release without delay,” Amnesty said in a letter addressed to King Salman through his private office in Riyadh.

The international human rights organization called on King Salman to ensure that the baseless charges against Dr. Muhammad al-Khudari and Dr. Hani al-Khudari are dropped and released.

The organization urged the king to ensure that the two men are protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and that Dr. Muhammad Al-Khudari obtain adequate medical care immediately.

“Amnesty” indicated that Al-Khudari the father needs adequate care and medical treatment for cancer.

She noted that the Saudi authorities arbitrarily arrested the two men on April 4, 2019 and remained in detention without charges until March 8, 2020, and forcibly disappeared for a month after their arrest and were held incommunicado and in solitary confinement during the next two months of their arrest.

Amnesty said: “One month after al-Khudari’s arrest, his wife received a phone call from the authorities in Dhahban prison asking for his medical records. Two weeks before his arrest, Dr. Muhammad al-Khudari had undergone surgery, and there was serious concern for his health, as he was detained while being treated for cancer.”

The organization added that concern has due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the special threat it poses to older prisoners with underlying medical conditions.

The organization explained that the Saudi authorities “submitted on March 8, 2020 Al-Khudari and his son Hani to the Specialized Criminal Court, the Anti-Terrorism Court, in a mass trial, on trumped-up charges under the anti-terrorism law, and they have no legal representation.”

Amnesty emphasized that the trials before the Specialized Criminal Court failed to adhere to international standards for fair trial, and that every stage of the procedures related to this court was marked by human rights violations.

Amnesty noted that the two men were brought to trial for their alleged ties to the actual Hamas authorities in Gaza, as part of a collective trial of 68 people, and were charged with joining a terrorist entity – understood to be Hamas.