Saudi Arabia frees two imprisoned activists with U.S. citizenship on bail

DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi authorities have actually launched 2 activists with U.S. citizenship on bail pending their trials, rights groups and member of the family said, as the kingdom transfers to address criticism from the brand-new U.S. administration over its human rights records.

Bader al-Ibrahim, an epidemiologist and reporter, and Salah al-Haidar, a media commentator whose mother Aziza al-Yousef is a popular women’s rights advocate, were released on Thursday.

Their next hearings were set for Feb. 7 and March 8 respectively on terrorism-related charges. Both have been held considering that April, 2019.

The Saudi government’s media office and the U.S. embassy in Riyadh did not right away react to requests for remark.

The Liberty Initiative, a Wahshington-based rights group, stated their release was “welcomed development, although it is long overdue”.

” Dr. Bader al-Ibrahim and Salah al-Haidar should have never ever been jailed in the very first place and their release ought to definitely not be on a ‘momentary’ basis,” it stated in a declaration sent to Reuters.

Amnesty International likewise invited their release and contacted the Saudi government to free “all journalists, activists and human rights defenders right away and unconditionally”.

The relocation follows a decision last month not to order another U.S.-Saudi activist, doctor Walid al-Fitaihi, back into jail. In a case that had been carefully followed by Washington, a Saudi appeals court nearly halved his six-year prison sentence and suspended the rest of his term.

U.S. President Joe Biden has said he will take a firmer line regarding the kingdom’s human rights record. He stated on Thursday he would stop U.S. assistance for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen, demanding that the more than six-year war, widely seen as a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, “needs to end.”

Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, enjoyed a close relationship with former U.S. President Donald Trump, who protected Saudi Arabia from international criticism after journalist Jamal Khashoggi was eliminated in a Saudi consulate and ladies’s rights activists were assembled.

In December, a Saudi court sentenced prominent women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul to nearly six years in jail. The court suspended 2 years and 10 months of her prison term, most currently served because her arrest in Might 2018, meaning she could be released by next month.

Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Modifying by Peter Graff

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