HRW: Saudi human rights activist beaten by guards

Local Editor

A prominent jailed Saudi human rights advocate has been beaten up while being forcibly moved to another prison, Human Rights Watch says.

The rights group says Waleed Abulkhair was dragged from his cell in chains and beaten after refusing to cooperate with the prison transfer.
Abulkhair has been relocated five times since he was arrested in April.

In the latest move, he was taken from a jail in the western port city of Jeddah to a facility in the capital Riyadh, almost 1,000 kilometers away from his family.

Last month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay censured Saudi Arabia for harassing human rights activists under a failed judicial system.

Source: Agencies