RIYADH (MEMO) – The Saudi Arabian Prisoners of Conscience group has reported that the kingdom’s judiciary has sentenced a number of Jordanians and Palestinians to lengthy terms in prison, with some of them reportedly having been tortured.
The group said on Twitter that Hussein Yaish was sentenced to 16 years in prison, Hamza Dweik and Mahmoud Ghazal to 12 years each, and Bilal Al-Akkad to four years. It pointed out that Samir Bushnaq was sentenced to 15 years, not eight years as previously reported, while the court acquitted Abdullah Rashid.
Prisoners of Conscience confirmed in a series of tweets that it had received “information that a number of Palestinian and Jordanian detainees were tortured, to force them to give up classified data about the resistance in Palestine.”
It noted that, “They were beaten on sensitive parts of their bodies, and some of them lost a lot of weight.”
During the interrogation, the group added, some Palestinian and Jordanian detainees were asked by Saudi spy agents to cooperate with the authorities and provide information in return for reduced sentences, pending their release and deportation to Jordan. It pointed out that the Palestinian and Jordanian detainees who were freed by the court are still in detention. There are serious concerns about their fate.
The Jordanian Detainees’ Committee in Saudi Arabia had previously said that 69 Jordanians and Palestinians, in addition to 10 Saudis, were given prison sentences. In one case linked to Palestinian Hamas resistance movement, the sentence was 22 years in prison.