Saudi authorities arrest 12 activists over Twitter posts

RIYADH, May 30 (YPA) – The Saudi authorities have arrested activists, most notably Abdullah Gilan, in connection with their tweets on Twitter.

According to “Sanad” human rights organization, the arrests included 12 male and female activists, without specifying the exact date of their arrest.

The organization published, on its Twitter account, a copy of Gilan’s passport and called on the Saudi authorities to release him and all the detainees unconditionally.

Sanad also published a video clip of Gilan’s fiancée, confirming that communication between them has been cut off since mid-May, and that she learned from his friends that his home was being raided by the Saudi security forces.

His fiancée indicated that the reason for the arrest was the tweets he had posted on his Twitter account, without specifying what these tweets were. She said in the video: “I am afraid and terrified, and I do not know anything about him, and I do not know if he is alive or dead, and I am afraid that he will face the same fate as journalist Jamal Khashoggi.”

For its part, the “Prisoners of Conscience” account on Twitter, which is concerned with news of detainees in the country, confirmed the arrest of Gilan from Medina on May 12.

Other press sources also confirmed that Gilan has been detained by the state security apparatus since the night of Eid al-Fitr due to his activity on social media under a pseudonym, and his criticism of the Saudi regime.

Among the well-known names of those arrested are the activist “Zeinab Walden”, the activist “Abu Daham” and the activist “Naza”.

YPA