Activists organized a protest in front of the Saudi embassy in London to demand ending human rights violations inside the Kingdom and the ongoing war in Yemen.
The crowd raised banners denouncing the war on Yemen and calling on the British government to stop arm sales to both Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The participants held the Saudi authorities responsible for pursuing activists and violating their human rights, the latest of which was the death of journalist Saleh al-Shehi as a result of medical negligence, in addition to the war crimes that led to the death of civilians as well as torture, starvation, and the siege imposed on the Yemeni people.
The activists called for an international investigation to be opened into the circumstances of the killing of the Saudi writer Saleh Al-Shehi.
The vigil included speeches by human rights activists in which they affirmed their stand by the persecuted and against the arrest of activists and violating their rights, and called for those involved in war crimes in Yemen to be brought to justice.
The Saudi writer and journalist, Saleh al-Shehi, died from COVID-19, at the end of last July, after the Saudi authorities released him at the end of May, after media reports circulated about his deteriorating health at the time.
Al-Shehi was arrested by the Saudi authorities in 2018, after he appeared on the “Ya Hala” program on the “Rotana Khalijia” channel, in which he spoke about corruption within the Royal Court.
Al-Shehi accused the royal court publicly of corruption, and of distributing lands to people without any right. However, Rotana channel deleted this part of the episode.
Saudi tweeters mourned the journalist Al-Shehi, who was known for attacking corruption in the Kingdom and praised virtues and the media role in defending the Saudi citizen and exposing corruption files within the royal court.
Saudi Arabia faces international criticism over the conditions for freedom of expression and human rights.
The British capital, London, in mid-July witnessed protests against the British government’s sale of weapons to the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen.