Saudi Arabia: Saudi arrests activists who campaigned for women’s driving

May 18, 2018

Saudi authorities have detained at least six activists, including three of the country’s most prominent women’s rights campaigners, just weeks before the kingdom is set to lift a ban on women driving, people familiar with the arrests said Friday.

The Associated Press spoke with two people in touch with the detainees’ relatives. One activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussion, said five were arrested on Tuesday and the sixth person was detained on Thursday. Several more are feared to be detained and others have been banned from traveling abroad by the government.

The government has not commented on the arrests and government spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The crackdown on prominent activists comes just six weeks before Saudi Arabia is set to lift the world’s only ban on women driving on June 24. It is seen as a significant step toward greater women’s rights in the kingdom.

…

Activists say it’s not clear why the group of six, including four women and two men, have been arrested now. Among the men detained is lawyer Ibrahim al-Mudimigh, who previously defended al-Hathloul in court.

…

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/saudi-arrests-activists-campaigned-womens-driving-55267343

https://www.voanews.com/a/saudis-arrest-activists-who-campaigned-for-women-s-driving-/4400404.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/g00/news/nationworld/sns-bc-ml–saudi-women-arrests-20180518-story.html?i10c.encReferrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmZyLw%3D%3D&i10c.ua=1&i10c.dv=14

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2018/05/18/six-womens-driving-advocates-in-saudi-arabia-arrested.html

https://www.gc4hr.org/news/view/1865

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-44178078

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/saudi-arabia-arrests-women-rights-activists-180519075533018.html

http://www.tampabay.com/detained-saudi-women-driving-campaigners-branded-traitors-ap_world43ecc94ae4b84ea89931ab5283dec4ac

https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/05/18/saudi-arabia-womens-rights-advocates-arrested

https://alqst.org/eng/top-names-in-saudi-human-rights-movement/

https://www.gc4hr.org/news/view/1866 (ARABIC)

https://lemuslimpost.com/defenseurs-saoudiens-droits-femmes-climat-peur.html (FRANCAIS)

https://information.tv5monde.com/info/arabie-saoudite-des-militants-des-droits-des-femmes-arretes-238201 (FRANCAIS)

BREAKING NEWS: #New_Wave_of_Arrests Ibrahim al-Madaimigh, the celebrated Saudi lawyer who defended many activists and prisoners of conscience including members of the human rights group #ACPRA, has been arrestedhttps://t.co/qQ6Tgc0qlL pic.twitter.com/RoLjxxMa9t

— القسط ALQST (@ALQST_ORG) May 19, 2018

Egypt/Italy: L’avvocato dei Regeni al Cairo: “Sono in pericolo, devo nascondermi”

18/05/18

Alessandra Ballerini, avvocata italiana della famiglia, ha diffuso le parole di Ahmad Abdallah, uno dei consulenti dei Regeni al Cairo, costretto a nascondersi per proteggersi dai servizi segreti egiziani

La ricerca della verità nell’omicidio di Giulio Regeni si riempie di ulteriori ostacoli.

Dopo l’arresto di Amal Fathy, l’attivista sostenitrice della famiglia Regeni al Cairo e moglie di Mohamed Lotfy, responsabile della Commissione egiziana per i diritti e le libertà (ECRF), nonché (e soprattutto) consulente legale dei Regeni in Egitto, avvenuto l’11 maggio, la preoccupazione dei legali – italiani ed egiziani della famiglia Regeni si fa sempre più alta.

Alessandra Ballerini, l’avvocata italiana della famiglia, ha infatti diffuso le parole di Ahmad Abdallah, uno dei consulenti dei Regeni al Cairo, che fa sapere come in questo momento la tensione sia altissima, così come il rischio di ulteriori arresti intimidatori.

Riportiamo le parole dell’avvocata:

“Riceviamo dal nostro consulente Ahmad Abdallah, che noi chiamiamo affettuosamente Abdallah “il buono”, un messaggio inquietante e commovente.

Noi, Paola, Claudio ed Alessandra,
siamo molto in apprensione per la sorte dei nostri difensori al Cairo, tutti loro stanno pagando un prezzo altissimo in termini di libertà e sicurezza a causa della loro eroica ed irriducibile battaglia legale nel cercare e pretendere al nostro fianco verità per Giulio. Sappiamo che le ambasciate dei paesi della Ue e quella italiana in particolare stanno prodigandosi per “mettere in sicurezza” i nostri consulenti dell’Ecrf, ma, come leggerete nel messaggio di Abdallah, la situazione è molto, molto pericolosa.

…

https://www.tpi.it/2018/05/18/giulio-regeni-omicidio-avvocato-rischio-arresto/

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/release-ahmed-abdallah (ENGLISH)

#ahmedabdallah

Ahmad Abdallah, Premio Index on Censorship Award 2018 per la Libertà di Espressione.