Jailing Saudi rights activists, clear HR violation: Iran MP

Iranian lawmaker Mohammad-Saleh Jokar has condemned Saudi Arabia for dissolution of a human rights group and handing down heavy jail sentences to its members.

“The international community must be vigilant of Al Saud’s crackdown on human rights organizations in the country,” Jokar, who is also member of Iran Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said on Wednesday.

On Saturday, Riyadh criminal court dissolved the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), with the judge saying the group had failed “to obtain authorization.”

Referring to the court order as a clear violation of human rights, the lawmaker noted that governments devoid of popular support have to resort to repression and intimidation to maintain their authority.

“Legislative and judicial institutions of the Al Saud regime are ailing, as they are only after protecting the [Al Saud] regime rather than the interests of the people of the country, and the product of such a regime will certainly not be human rights and democracy,” the lawmaker added.

The Riyadh court also upheld a six-year jail sentence for Abdullah al-Hamed, an ACPRA activist, and increased his sentence by five more years.

Hamed has also received an 11-year travel ban, which will prevent him from leaving Saudi Arabia for a little over a decade after his release from prison.

Mohammed Gahtani, another group member, was also given 10 years in prison and a 10-year travel ban.

The two men were convicted of breaching the kingdom’s cyber crime law by using Twitter to lash out at the country’s political system and social life.