Saudis rally anew against ruling family

Saudis have staged fresh protest against the ruling Al Saud family as anti-regime protests gather steam in the kingdom, Press TV reports.

The Wednesday rally was held in the al-Qassim region north of Riyadh. The demonstrators chanted anti-regime slogans and called for the release of political prisoners.

On the same day, people demonstrated in the holy city of Mecca and the central city of Buraidah.

On December 31, tens of thousands of Saudi nationals staged a protest in the oil-rich Eastern Province to condemn the recent killing of a teenage demonstrator.

The demonstration was held following the funeral of Ahmad al-Matar, who was killed when regime forces opened fire on a group of protesters in the province’s Qatif region on December 27.

“The Saudi society is in a bad need for that (democracy) and the ruling authority in Saudi Arabia is the least susceptible to changes like this,” Daoud Khairallah, a professor of law at Georgetown University, told Press TV on Wednesday.

Since February 2011, protesters have held demonstrations on an almost regular basis in Saudi Arabia, mainly in Qatif and the town of Awamiyah in the Eastern Province, primarily calling for the release of all political prisoners, freedom of expression and assembly, as well as an end to widespread discrimination.

The demonstrations have turned into protests against the Al Saud regime, especially since November 2011 when security forces killed five protesters and injured many others in the province.

Amnesty International has called on Saudi authorities to stop using excessive force against the protesters.

According to Human Rights Watch, the Saudi regime “routinely represses expression critical of the government.