Monday, Jan 30, 2017

Manama: Authorities in Saudi Arabia are currently detaining 5,094 prisoners in security-related cases, official figures indicate.

Saudis, at 4,254, make up the overwhelming majority of the detainees, while Yemenis at 281 have the highest number of foreigners held on charges of links with terrorism, the Ministry of Interior said on a dedicated website detailing the numbers and nationalities of those jailed in Saudi prisons.

On Sunday, the authorities released four people, a Yemeni, a Syrian, an Indian and a Turk, after they served their jail terms. However, the police also arrested 13 suspects from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Sudan and Pakistan on security charges, Saudi daily Okaz reported on Monday.

Following the releases and the arrests, the number of Saudis held by the interior ministry increased by three over last week.

The number of Pakistanis went up from 68 to 76 following the terror incidents in Jeddah in western Saudi Arabia.

The figures on the website of the Interior Ministry’s prisoners’ centre “Nafethah” show that 217 Syrians, 30 Sudanese, 18 Indians, 11 Bahrainis and three Turks are detained by the Saudi authorities.

The figures reflect only the changes in numbers of prisoners over last week. According to the website, the detainees held for terrorism-related crimes come from 40 nationalities.

By Habib Toumi Bureau Chief

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