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| Murtaja Qureiris before his imprisonment and after. The before and after pictures of him tell his story - a child when first arrested, he is now a neatly bearded young man. (Photo by= ESOHR) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] Human rights activists say Saudi Arabia has freed a prisoner who was arrested when aged 13 for suspected involvement in anti-government protests. Murtaja Qureiris had once been facing the death penalty, although he was finally sentenced to a prison term, BBC reported.
He was held in 2014, partly due to his alleged participation in demonstrations during the Arab Spring in 2011. Mr. Qureiris was believed to be the youngest Saudi prisoner to be detained for involvement in political protest. The video showed him at a protest rally with other children on bicycles in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, which is home to the kingdom's Shia Muslim minority to which he belongs. Saudi Shia have long complained of discrimination in the Sunni Muslim-majority country and of being treated as second-class citizens. Human rights groups say that Murtaja Qureiris was held for several years without being charged.
Originally for 12 years, it was subsequently reduced to eight. With time served, that meant that he was now due for release. Human rights activists have welcomed the decision to free him, but have lamented the likely physical and psychological toll of his detention - during much of which he was in fear of execution.
