Rights group demands release of Saudi reporter

If the fundies don't get you, the security forces will instead...

Rights group demands release of Saudi reporter
DUBAI:
Security forces have arrested a Saudi journalist who received death threats for his criticism of strict interpretations of Islam, and now he faces charges of doubting the Islamic creed and "harbouring destructive thoughts," a human rights group and Saudi officials said yesterday. Rabbah Al-Quwaii, 24, a reporter for Riyadh-based newspaper Al-Shams, was arrested April 3 after questioning Islamic doctrine in frequent writings on Internet discussion forums, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement demanding his release. Saudi government officials confirmed the arrest and said Al-Quwaii faced prosecution in court on unspecified anti-Islamic charges. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on security matters.

Human Rights Watch said Al-Quwaii reported death threats last year after he
wrote articles alleging that the kingdom's strict interpretation of Islam was
contributing to the growth of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. "Saudi
security forces apparently believe they are there to abuse citizens like Rabbah Al-Quwaii rather than to protect them," said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. Other liberal Saudi journalists also reported death threats to police without results, the rights group reported.

In November 2005, the group said, the governor of northern Hail Province ordered police to investigate the threats against Al-Quwaii after a newspaper reported that assailants had smashed the reporter's car and left a note saying "next time, its you." But instead, intelligence police arrested Al-Quwaii in the city of Hail, after luring him there by asking him to fill out paperwork related to the investigation of the death threats. Saudi officials provided similar details of the arrest to The Associated Press, and said Al-Quwaii had also received written warnings and threatening letters to halt his anti-Islamic writing. Human Rights Watch urged Saudi Arabia's minister for human rights, Turki al-Sudairy, to open a public inquiry into the role of the kingdom's security and intelligence services in al-Quwaii's arrest. State investigators have refused to allow Al-Quwaii to speak to his lawyer or fully
disclose charges against him, Human Rights Watch reported.---AP