Arrest of a prominent religious scholar in Ihsaa

THE  COMMITTEE   FOR  THE  DEFENSE  OF  HUMAN  RIGHTS  IN

THE  ARABIAN  PENINSULA

 DATE  :02 / 05/ 2002  

 NO  : 114/ H / 2002   

After the demonstrations that have taken place in the Arabian Peninsula which supported the Palestinian people and our people could prove through them their national and Islamic unity and their refusal for all attempts in which the regime tried to foment of sedition and sow seeds of discord , hostile and sectarian wrangle in order to distract the people to be interest in their central and fateful issues and to hide the regime's internal and outside polices which put the fate of the country under the control of America and the enemy of Islam.

After these events, the Saudi regime arrested the religious scholar Sayyid Hashim al-Shakhs, a 45 – year old, from Qarrah village in Ihsaa on his return to his home on 1 / 5 / 2002 (19 Safar 1423 A-H) after giving a religious lecture in an Islamic centre in the village by members of al-Mabahith al-`Amma.

It is worth mentioning that Sayyid al-Shakhs, who was a prominent religious scholar in the Arabian Peninsula and the most common preacher and the prayer leader in Qarah village, was arrested in September 1996 and arrested again on 14 / 4 / 2000 and released after about two months, he was also arrested on 19 / 3 / 2002 and released after four days.

Those frequent arrests were made to put pressure on him in order to make him leave his religious activities.

 Sayyid al-Shakhs was one of the following scholars who subjected to pressure in order to stop their religious activities , these scholars include :

     1.     Sheikh Abdul Kareem al-Hubail, 43, from Taraut.

     2.     Sheikh Ja'far Ali al-Mubarak, 39, from Safwa town.

     3.     Sheikh Hassan Ali al-Motaww', 31, from Taraut , Rabi`yah.

     4.     Sheikh Hassan Mohammad al-Nimer, 39, from Dammam.