The fifth member to be arrested of (ACPRA), or faces a trial in three months
Cairo July 8, 2012

ANHRI condemns the continuing attack of the Saudi authorities against the human rights activists in the Kingdom. On the dawn of Saturday, the authorities arrested “Saleh El-Ashwan”, an activist in the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), from his house in Riyadh.To join a long list of the activists who are either detained or tracked before the courts in a few weeks.

ANHRI said “the recent attack concentrated on the human rights activists and the reformers, in particularly, of (ACPRA). Such attack aims to to infanticide the movement of Human Rights in the Kingdom and discern the deep hostility to the human rights and democratic values”. ANHRI added: “the attempts to infanticide the movement of Human Rights, will fail certainly”.

According to eye-witness, on the dawn of Saturday of this July 7th, the security forces storming the house of “Saleh El-Ashwan”, they drove him to unknown place, after terrifying the residents and the neighboring houses.

Activists mentioned on the social network “twitter”, that the authorities stormed the house using “6 female prisoners and 15 police dogs, and confiscated all the mobile phones and computers of the whole family”. Activists asserted that the arrest of ” El-Ashwan”, conducted without a warrant arrest or any clear judicial procedures.

Many people believe that, the arrest of “Ashwan”, conducted because of his human rights activity, especially, because his active against the arbitrary detention to the citizens as well as working on supporting the file of the political or extra- legal detainees, which they are estimated, according to the human rights organizations, by hundreds in various prisons of the kingdom.

“Ashwan” was detained before during the sit-in known as “Muharram 21″ correspondent to “December 2011″, as well as several protesters.

“Ashwan” arrest comes in the series of tracking the human rights activists in the recent weeks. “Mohamed Fahd Al-Qahtany”, the most significant member of (ACPRA) faces a trial, as he is accused of 11 charges, due to his human rights activity. On the first of the coming September, the court will resume the trial. His colleague in the same association, faces a trial by the same charges.

Among the charges that the activists usually faces, in the same kind of cases, “breaking allegiance to the ruler”, “accusing the Judiciary of allowing torture” and “establishing an association without permits”.

Previously, on April 2012, the (ACPRA) activist “Mohamed El-Bagady” faced a show trial, in which he was sentenced with four years of imprisonment and baned from travel for five years.

In the same context, several human rights activists are facing an arbitrary decisions by banning them from travel, like the member of (ACPRA), “Fawzan El-Harbi”, who was baned from traveling to attend an international conference in Geneva, last May.

ANHRI said that “the arbitrary arrest,emphasizes the continuation of the suppression policy of the Saudi ministry of interior and falsity  any calls for reforming or the release of the detainees. Whenever the ministry of interior releases some, arrest others”.

ANHRI added that “the concentration of the recent attack  on the human rights activists, is linked to the anxious of the  Saudi regime, that the Arab spring could reach the kingdom. Attempts,will fail inevitably, to infanticide the widening movement of Human Rights in the Kingdom.

ANHRI asserted that “the Saudi regime represents the biggest strongholds in the Arab world now. The regime strives to consolidate, during the unrivaled courageous of the activists and reformers, who are determine to pay the price of freedom”

ANHRI calls all the concerned organizations and the UN bodies to press the Saudi regime in order to guarantee the safety of the detainees and quickly releasing them, as well as forcing the Kingdom to respect the freedom of expression and association.