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Saudi holding 5 ’wanted’ protesters

04 January 2012 00:51 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Saudi Arabia says it has captured two out of nearly two dozen ’wanted’ anti-regime protesters and that three others have turned themselves in to the authorities, APA reports quoting Press TV.

On Monday, intensifying crackdown on dissent, the ultraconservative kingdom ordered the arrest of the 23 people, whom it said, were responsible for inciting anti-government demonstrations in the country’s Eastern Province.

According to state media, â€œA statement from the Interior Ministry said that three of those wanted for inciting unrest in the Eastern Province have surrendered themselves to security authorities, while two others have been detained."

Interior Ministry spokesman General Mansour Turki also called on the remaining men to hand themselves over to the authorities.

The province has been a scene of anti-regime demonstrations, with the outraged public urging implementation of human rights reforms, realization of freedom of expression, and the release of political prisoners.

Saudi activists say there are thousands of political prisoners in jails across the kingdom. According to human rights campaigners, most of the detainees are being held without trial or charges and have been arrested on the grounds of mere suspicion.

In March, 2011, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz al Saud reportedly ordered the country’s police chiefs through an official letter not to show any mercy to anti-government protesters.

Saudi forces attacked protesters in the Eastern Province in November, 2011, killing five people and injuring many others.