News / Saudi Arabia

Dissident Saudi professor brain-dead after toxic injection: Rights group

Monday, 14 January 2019 6:52 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 14 January 2019 7:03 PM ]

Dissident Saudi clergyman and university professor Ahmed al-Amari (Photo via Twitter)

A renowned Muslim preacher and a university lecturer has been declared brain-dead after Saudi officials injected poisonous substance into his body during brutal torture in prison as a crackdown led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman against Muslim preachers and intellectuals widens in the conservative oil-rich kingdom.

The rights group Prisoners of Conscience, which is an independent non-governmental organization seeking to promote human rights in Saudi Arabia, announced in a post on its official Twitter page that Dr. Ahmed al-Amari, who was a professor at Faculty of the Holy Qur'an in the Islamic University of Madinah, suffered severe brain hemorrhage after the injection.

▪️Saudi authorities hold the full responsibility for the life of Dr. Ahmed al-Amari (#أحمد_العماري), and we suggest that the severe brain hemorrhage which caused him "brain death" is a result of injecting a poisonous substance into his body by the authorities. pic.twitter.com/ctgM5Bf9ak
— Prisoners of Conscie (@m3takl_en) January 13, 2019

He was then taken to King Abdullah Medical Complex in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, where all doctors confirmed that he is brain-dead shortly afterwards.

Also on Monday, Prisoners of Conscience announced that activist Yaser al-Ayyaf is suffering from severe burns and bruises all over his body as a result of savage torture he endured during his detention in solitary confinement.

🔴 Breaking news
We confirm that the activist YASER AL-AYYAF has various bruises and burns in different parts of his body as a result of being subjected to severe torture while being in solitary confinement.
(He was taken out of solitary confinement in December 2018) pic.twitter.com/6TmLm0uN9A
— Prisoners of Conscie (@m3takl_en) January 14, 2019

Saudi Arabia has lately stepped up politically-motivated arrests, prosecution and conviction of peaceful dissident writers and human rights campaigners.

Saudi officials have also intensified security measures in the Shia-populated and oil-rich Eastern Province.

PressTV-'Renowned clergyman brutally tortured in Saudi prison'

Saudi authorities have brutally tortured political dissident and renowned Muslim preacher Ali Al-Omari in prison.

Eastern Province has been the scene of peaceful demonstrations since February 2011. Protesters have been demanding reforms, freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners, and an end to economic and religious discrimination against the oil-rich region.

The protests have been met with a heavy-handed crackdown by the regime with security forces increasing security measures across the province.

Over the past years, Riyadh has also redefined its anti-terrorism laws to target activism.

In January 2016, Saudi authorities executed Shia cleric, Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, who was an outspoken critic of the policies of the Riyadh regime. Nimr had been arrested in Qatif in 2012.

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