Activist sentenced to jail, lashes: Saudi group

A political activist has been sentenced to 300 lashes and four years in jail for calling for a constitutional monarchy in Saudi Arabia, a Saudi rights group says.

The Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) said on Sunday that Omar al-Saeed is the fourth member of the group to be put behind bars in 2013.

The group has issued statements, calling for democracy and criticizing Saudi Arabia’s ruling family for its human rights record.

The ACPRA said in a statement that Saeed did not have legal representation at the secret hearing when he was handed down the sentence.

“It’s just another troubling instance of Saudi authorities’ absolute refusal to countenance any activism or criticism of Saudi policies or human rights abuses,” said Adam Coogle, Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch.

The US-allied kingdom is notorious for showing what rights advocates describe as zero-tolerance towards dissent and anti-regime demonstrations in the country have been suppressed since 2011.

In October, Amnesty International published a report saying a paper was submitted to the United Nations detailing “an ongoing crackdown including arbitrary arrests and detention, unfair trials, torture, and other ill-treatment over the past four years,” in Saudi Arabia.

Philip Luther, the director of Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International said the Saudi government’s “previous promises to the UN have been proven to be nothing but hot air. It relies on its political and economic clout to deter the international community from criticizing its dire human rights record.”

Activists say there are around 30,000 political prisoners in Saudi Arabia.