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This is wild. Can anyone confirm?

Saudis dare to occupy the pavement

Mardi, 03 Ao�t 2010 18:45

By Habib Trabelsi

PARIS - Some Saudis have already broken down the wall of fear several times by protesting in the streets. Others will now rally on the 7th of August; a group will gather at the "Diwan Al-Mazalem '(Grievances Court), and another will stand squarely in front of the royal palace, to express their anger in a country where unauthorized assemblies in public places are still severely repressed.

"Monitors" in an �arbitral� tribunal

�Jurists , lawyers and human rights activists are invited, on Saturday at 9 AM, to the Diwan Al-Mazalem (a special judicial body reporting directly to the sovereign) in Riyadh, to attend the 7th session of the trial brought by Sheikh Suleiman Al-Rashoudi �s defense team against the Ministry of Interior for its arbitrary detention of a leading human rights activist and former judge and lawyer,� wrote activists from the �Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association� on the self-proclaimed NGO�s website.

The four activists - Attorney Abdulaziz Mohammed Al-Wahabi (a lawyer), Mohammad Fahad Al-Qahtani (professor of Political Economy), and human rights activists, Fahd Abdulaziz Al-Orani and Fowzan Mohsen Al-Harbi - who published their names, mobile numbers, and email addresses on the website, affirm that the judge had agreed that the court hearing be public and had promised to provide a bigger room, to welcome the audience and assure the smooth conduct of the trial.

Nothing to lose ... change is inevitable

When interviewed by Saudiwave, Fowzan Al-Harbi said that he expected a large audience. "After the deterioration of their living conditions, rising unemployment, soarng inflation, the spread of corruption and embezzlement of public money, citizens have nothing to lose," he explained.

"And then, people start to free themselves from fear accumulated during several decades of repression. Citizens are beginning to organize sit-ins and demonstrations, through professional sectors, to claim their material needs. With time, masses of people will demand political reform (...),"added the activist.

"In any case, political affairs in the kingdom can no longer continue to be managed with a mentality of the 1950s. The people have matured. Policy makers have grown older. The members of the ruling family increased in number and in conflicts of interest. Change is inevitable," said the Al-Harbi.

A boon for "Mira"

Such eventual public hearing seems to have brought water to the mill of the principal chief of the Saudi opposition in exile in London, Saad al-Faqih, who heads the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA), and who called repeatedly for several decades for a battle against the regime, which he accused of all evils. This has contributed greatly to the "maturing" of the Saudis.

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