Saudi Arabia's detention of Palestinians unacceptable: Hamas official

A member of the politburo of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement has lambasted the detention of dozens of Palestinians in prisons across Saudi Arabia as “unacceptable,” saying the campaign of arrests continues unabated and that no dramatic progress has been made in this regard despite contacts with Saudi officials.

“The Saudi arrest campaign cannot be understood or accepted. These are Palestinians, who love their country and their cause just like all Palestinians living in diaspora. We hope that they will be released immediately,” Husam Badran said in an exclusive interview with the Palestinian Arabic-language Quds Press news agency on Monday.

On October 21, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Arabic-language Shehab news agency in an exclusive interview that Palestinians currently being held at prisons and detention centers in Saudi Arabia are exposed to various forms of torture and cruel methods of interrogation.

“Unfortunately, there is a harsh investigation procedure against the detainees, some of whom are subjected to various forms of torture. Interrogators of different nationalities are questioning them,” he said.

Abu Zuhri added, “There are about 60 Palestinian detainees (in Saudi jails), and some of them are the sons or supporters of Hamas. Some of them have even lived more than three decades in the kingdom and greatly contributed to the construction of the country.”

He further noted that Hamas has made great efforts, either through contacts with a number of countries or Saudi officials, to secure the release of the Palestinian inmates but all to no avail.

The senior Palestinian official stressed that his movement is closely monitoring the cases of Palestinian prisoners being held in Saudi Arabia.

On September 14, Hamas called on Saudi authorities to immediately release its senior official Muhammad al-Khudari, who has been living in the kingdom for over 30 years.

SS