Detained Saudi Princess Re-Emerges for Brief Phone Call from Prison
A Saudi princess who was arrested in March 2019 has made contact with her family for the first time in a year, with a brief phone call to a relative in recent days.
Princess Basmah bint Saud bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud has been
kept in the maximum-security Al-Ha’ir prison near the capital Riyadh since her
arrest – the same facility where women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul
was held until recently. One of Basmah’s daughters, Souhoud bint Shuja
Al-Sharif, is being held with her in the same facility.
On May 13, Basmah was allowed to make a brief phone call to
a relative in Saudi Arabia, although the conversation was ended abruptly after
just a couple of minutes, according to several knowledgeable sources. According
to one source, she was discussing arrangements for her will "in case
anything happened to her", when the call was cut off.
The Saudi authorities told the United Nations last year that
Basmah was accused of the criminal offence of trying to travel outside the
kingdom illegally. Her daughter is accused of assaulting an agent and of an
unspecified cybercrime. At the time, no formal charges had been brought against
either woman and it is not clear if that has changed. The Saudi embassy in
London did not respond to questions for this article.
Basmah’s legal representative Henri Estramant said his
client had not been allowed regular contact with her family or been provided
with any legal advice since being detained.
Basmah’s supporters have been lobbying the U.S. government
to take an interest in her case and are hopeful the State Department might
choose to get involved. Her situation has also drawn attention in Europe and
was raised, along with other similar cases, by a European Parliament delegation
to Saudi Arabia in early 2020.
Eva Kaili, a Greek member of the European Parliament who was
part of the delegation, said a Saudi government minister gave them reason to
believe she might be released before long. “They told us we would be positively
surprised,” she said. “It’s been a year since they said that and we have not
been.”
Basmah’s last public messages were in April 2020, when a
series of tweets were issued from her account pleading to be released. Her
recent brief phone call comes amid reports of a fresh crackdown of activists in
the kingdom this year.
Royal prisoners
Other members of the royal family have also been targeted by
the Saudi authorities, with high-profile Prince Sultan bin Salman recently
placed under a travel ban, according to reports.
Prince Sultan found fame in 1985 when he travelled on the
Space Shuttle Discovery, becoming the first Arab in space; he is a half-brother
of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and a son of the ruler King Salman.
Former Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef (MBN) and Prince
Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz are also being detained. They were arrested in March 2020
and have been held in unknown locations since then, but have yet to be charged
with anything.
There is continued speculation about the reasons for
Basmah’s detention, beyond what the Saudi authorities have claimed, not least
because she has a reputation as an outspoken advocate of reforms in Saudi
Arabia.
Some have suggested her arrest – made as she was trying to
travel to Switzerland for medical treatment – is linked to her friendship with
MBN. Others have suggested powerful figures in Saudi Arabia are trying to force
her to relinquish her inheritance from her father, the late King Saud (who ruled
from 1953-64).
Basmah is believed to be suffering from a number of health
issues but friends of the family say she has not been receiving regular medical
care since she was arrested.
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