Saudi Arabia: Coronavirus

(asked on 1st June 2020) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Saudi Arabian Government on releasing prisoners of conscience Raif Badawi, Ashraf Fayadh and Ahmad Al Shamri due to the risk of covid-19 posed to detainees in overcrowded prisons.


Answered by
James Cleverly Portrait
James Cleverly
Home Secretary
This question was answered on 8th June 2020

We remain concerned over the continued detention of a number of individuals in Saudi Arabia. The Foreign Secretary raised our concerns on a number of cases during his visit to Saudi Arabia on 4 and 5 March, including Raif Badawi. In response to COVID-19, Saudi Arabia temporarily released a small number of prisoners with debt-related convictions. Embassy staff visited a number of high security prisons in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam in February and March, where the facilities and prison wings appeared to be in good and clean condition. Prison services and administration appeared professional. We will continue to raise concerns about individual cases regularly.

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