WP: Saudi King Pardons 3 Jailed Dissidents and Their Ally

[DeepModem Mom]

Saudi King Pardons 3 Jailed Dissidents and Their Ally
By Steve Coll
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, August 9, 2005; Page A18


RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Aug. 8 -- Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Monday night ordered the pardon and release of three prominent political dissidents and their attorney who had been imprisoned for holding meetings and signing petitions advocating a new constitution for the kingdom.

The 18-month imprisonment of the four men -- two university scholars, a poet and their attorney -- had galvanized protests from international human rights groups and prompted a rare public rebuke of Saudi Arabia's autocratic political system from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Lawyers and associates of the reformers described the pardon as an encouraging signal that Abdullah intends to relax the strictures on public debate about the kingdom's political system and social problems, and that he may also ease the interrogations, threats and forced confessions routinely faced by Saudis who speak out about controversial issues. Abdullah took the throne last week after the death of his half brother, King Fahd.

"I hope the justice system will understand this message," said Khalid Abdullah Nasari, an attorney for one of the freed dissidents. He said the kingdom needed a legal system that could "deal with political opinions and see them as opinions, not as political acts." Scholars Matrouk Faleh and Abdullah Hamed and poet Ali Dumaini were among a dozen reformers arrested in February 2004, following a meeting at a Riyadh hotel called to debate political change and advance a petition advocating a new constitution that would expand the rights of citizens in the kingdom.

A fourth activist, lawyer Abdul-Rahman Lahem, was jailed soon after for denouncing the arrests. Some of those initially arrested signed statements of loyalty to the government and were released; the four who refused to do so were convicted in a closed trial and imprisoned....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/08/AR2005080801228.html

[Cha]

1. Well, Good!

Maybe this 1/2 brother of the other King of Saudi Arabia has more goin' on upstairs.

[Maple]

5. He's been in charge for years

and isn't about to make any changes.

Others in Saudi Arabia, however, are.

[grytpype]

2. The Saudis like torture even more than the Bushists.

They torture just about everyone who is arrested for anything. Whistleblowers are tortured too.

[grytpype]

4. Here's a story of what the Saudis do to get confessions.

Not for the weak of stomach!

http://watch.windsofchange.net/themes_88.htm

[Sgent]

3. Good move

If this guy is smart he'll start moving to a constitutional monarachy (aka UK or similar). It may be very restrictive at first, but hopefully it will work eventually.