Saudi Arabia: Political Prisoners

(asked on 12th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for International Trade on the potential merits of ensuring that the release of uncharged political detainees and fair, transparent trials for those charged are conditions for agreeing free trade deals with Saudi Arabia.


Answered by
James Cleverly Portrait
James Cleverly
Home Secretary
This question was answered on 18th January 2021

We remain concerned over the continued detention of a number of individuals in Saudi Arabia, particularly those detained because of their political views. We raise concerns regularly and continue to call for political detainees to be given adequate legal representation. The UK signed a statement at the UN Human Rights Council on 15 September 2020 that called for the release of all political detainees. At the current time, the UK is not negotiating a free trade deal with Saudi Arabia.

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