Wahabi and Salafi clerics issue fatwas against political activists, paving the way for the Riyadh government to prosecute Saudi protesters

Wahabi and Salafi clerics issue fatwas against political activists, paving the way for the Riyadh government to prosecute Saudi protesters, a political commentator tells Press TV.

“The fatwas issued by the Wahhabi-Salafi establishment which gives the regime its religious legitimacy and its religious cover, has said that all those taking part in the protests are outsiders, they are foreigners and they are agents,” the London-based Middle East expert Zayd al-Isa said on Tuesday.

These fatwas have allowed the Saudi Interior Ministry to announce those who participate in peaceful protests in order to demand equal rights and democratic reform “will be subjected to the most brutal, ruthless crackdown as if they are al-Qaeda,” Al-Isa added.

“There is unbearable abuse and widespread persecution, that is why the people, the original inhabitants of this oil-rich area, which is responsible for the overwhelming majority of the wealth of the entire country, … are totally and vehemently opposed to the regime,” he said.

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

However, the demonstrations turned into protests against the repressive Al Saud regime, especially after November 2011, when Saudi security forces killed five protesters and injured many others in the province.

Saudi activists say there are more than 40,000 political prisoners in jails across the Kingdom.

According to the activists, most of the detainees are being held by the government without trial or legitimate charges and have been arrested for merely looking suspicious.

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