RIYADH (Dispatches) – An official source in Hamas told Arabi 21 that the Saudi authorities will release the representative of the Palestinian resistance movement, Muhammad al-Khudari, who was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison, but his sentence then being reduced, later, to 6 years.
In exclusive statements to Arabi 21, the source said that al-Khudari will be deported to Amman after his release, which was supposed to be Monday, but it was delayed until Tuesday due to some procedures.
Al-Khudari was arrested with his son, Hani, and several other people who Riyadh accused of being linked to the resistance movement. Various prison sentences were issued against them, and some of them were released and deported from Saudi Arabia.
Last September, sources told Arabi21 that the Saudi authorities had deported Wijdan al-Shanti, the wife of the former representative of Hamas, Muhammad al-Khudari, who has been detained since 2019.
Sources said that al-Shanti arrived in the Jordanian capital, Amman, and she is waiting for her husband, who is supposed to be deported to Jordan within days.
The “Prisoners of Conscience” Saudi human rights account stated that al-Shanti had been detained for a week at the Shumaisi Deportation Centre in Riyadh.
Meanwhile, sources told Arabi 21 that the Saudi authorities did not allow al-Shanti to take any of her belongings.
Al-Khudari was responsible for managing the relationship between Hamas and Saudi Arabia for two decades and assumed high leadership positions in the Hamas movement. The Saudi authorities arrested him, along with his son, Hani, on April 4, 2019.
Amnesty International had called on Saudi King, Salman bin Abdulaziz, to release al-Khudari, who suffers from a deteriorating health condition due to cancer because he did not receive the necessary care in prison.