Freedoms on the March in Saudi Arabia Its nice to see how consitent the Bush doctrine is! Do you think Condie is going to complain about this--or is it more support for the government that countenances world wide terrorism and repression.
Voters and judges deal Saudi liberals double blow
By Dominic Evans Mon May 16, 7:59 AM ET
RIYADH (Reuters) - Spurned by voters and jailed by judges, liberal activists in Saudi Arabia are reeling from twin blows to the dreams they once pinned on the authoritarian kingdom's tentative reform program.
Less than a month after the liberals were soundly beaten by Islamist-backed candidates in Saudi Arabia's partial municipal elections, a court in Riyadh jailed three prominent pro-democracy activists on Sunday for up to nine years.
The severity of the sentences shocked relatives and surprised Western diplomats. One U.S.-based rights group said it showed the absolute monarchy was blocking even the most basic level of political discussion.
The three men, Ali al-Dumaini, Abdullah al-Hamed and Matruk al-Faleh, had signed petitions calling for a constitutional monarchy and a timetable for political reforms. They were arrested in March 2004.
"The sentence was a kind of message to the liberals, and to others," said novelist Turki al-Hamad. "You've gone too far, just slow it down."
The arrest of the men drew rare public criticism from the United States which has pushed for reform in ally Saudi Arabia since the Sept. 11 attacks, which were carried out by mainly Saudi hijackers.
The court verdict followed three rounds of partial, men-only elections to municipal councils this year -- Saudi Arabia's first national vote. Candidates backed by conservative Muslim scholars triumphed in all major urban centers, leaving the liberals empty-handed.
"After the elections it appears that the Islamic organization and ideology dominates this society," Hamad said. "This is a fact which we should accept. So if you want change, you have to work on society first."
NARROW SUPPORT
Just last year liberals dared to hope that the fledgling political changes in Saudi Arabia would give them a greater voice. Together with Islamist reformers they sent a series of petitions to de facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah.
But in March 2004 a dozen activists including Dumaini, Faleh and Hamed, were arrested. The arrests drew rare public criticism from Washington which has pushed for Saudi reforms since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, carried out by mainly Saudi hijackers.
Most were released after reportedly promising to keep quiet, but the three men were held and put on trial in August. The court sessions, held mainly behind closed doors, revealed their narrow support base.
Barely 40 relatives and sympathisers, including veterans of a failed 1969 military coup, appeared for Sunday's verdict.
Diplomats say senior members of the royal family, which has been tackling a two-year wave of violence by al Qaeda militants, see the liberals as largely irrelevant.
"This is the tragedy of Saudi Arabia, like all Arab countries, that there is no liberal opposition," said Mai Yamani of the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London.
"We always get the Islamists. They are allowed the space, while the others are silenced and sidelined," she said. "These are the people who would have balanced the extremists' power."
The New York-based writers' organization PEN said Sunday's sentences were a clear violation to freedom of expression.
"The message seems to be that Saudi citizens may not participate in political discussions about their future at even the most basic level," it said in a statement.
Lawyers for the three men have said they will appeal the sentences, and observers say they a royal pardon is possible.
"I know everything around us now calls for pessimism ... but in the future you cannot live in a world moving toward democracy and human rights and remain in isolation," Hamad said. "In the end things will change."
Last edited by linskyjack : 16-May-2005 10:25 PM.
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