Teachers suspected to have ties with Hizb
Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter
Thursday, May 29, 2008
The Saudi authorities suspect that the eight Bahraini teachers detained in a Riyadh prison have links with Hizbullah.
“My nephew informed me that the authorities keep questioning them on links with Hizbullah and other outlawed groups, which is not true,” a family member told the Tribune.
He claimed that the Saudi authorities were forcing the men to confess they were associated with Iran and were being mentally tortured.
Teachers suspected to have ties with Hizb
Sandeep Singh Grewal
Staff Reporter
Thursday, May 29, 2008
The Saudi authorities suspect that the eight Bahraini teachers detained in a Riyadh prison have links with Hizbullah.
“My nephew informed me that the authorities keep questioning them on links with Hizbullah and other outlawed groups, which is not true,” a family member told the Tribune.
He claimed that the Saudi authorities were forcing the men to confess they were associated with Iran and were being mentally tortured.
The family member said one of the detainees was psychologically affected regularly taken to the doctor at Al Hair prison.
“They suspect our men as spies. No one has seen each other since their detention. They are housed separately in 2×3 metre cells. It is like the Guantanamo Bay, the only difference here is they are not tortured,” he said.
The teachers left for Riyadh on February 29 through the King Fahad Causeway using two cars, four in each vehicle. According to family members, the group intended to visit historic and tourist sites in Saudi Arabia. They carried a laptop, a Global Positioning System device and a map. The men were arrested after they entered a restricted area. “The interrogators accessed their emails and exerted pressure on them to get information about their friends. We want the Bahrain authorities to take a serious step to resolve the issue,” rights activist Nabeel Rajab said, referring to a statement prepared by the family after meeting their loved ones on April 23. He urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to arrange a second trip for family members to meet their loved ones – this time with lawyers and human rights activists. The families were concerned when they were informed during their visit to Riyadh on April 23 that the teachers would go on an indefinite hunger strike.
The families sent a telegram to King Abudlla ibn Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia last month, appealing for the teachers’ release. Saudi Human Rights Commission has received appeals from the Bahrain Human Rights Society, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and Amnesty International – all calling for unconditional release of the men if there were no charges against them.
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