Saudis hold anti-regime rallies in Qatif, demad release of activist

Anti-regime protesters have once again flooded the streets in the Saudi town of Qatif in the oil-rich Eastern Province, calling for the release of a prominent human rights activist, Press TV reports. The protesters came out in separate rallies in and around Qatif on Thursday, demanding the release of Fadel al-Monassef. The demonstrations came in spite of an official ban on protest rallies. The Saudi interior ministry issued a statement on March 5, 2011, prohibiting “all forms of demonstrations, marches or protests, and calls for them, because that contradicts the principles of the Islamic Sharia, the values and traditions of Saudi society, and results in disturbing public order and harming public and private interests.” Saudi protesters have held demonstrations on an almost regular basis in the Eastern Province, mainly in the towns of Qatif and Awamiyah, since February 2011, calling for the release of all political prisoners, freedom of expression and assembly, and an end to widespread sectarian discrimination. The demonstrations, however, intensified into protest rallies against the Al Saud regime, especially since November 2011, when Saudi security forces killed five protesters and injured many others in the oil-rich province. Rights groups, including US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), UK-based Amnesty International and Saudi-based Human Rights First Society (HRFS) have accused Riyadh of silencing dissent through intimidation and violating the basic rights of citizens. They have also slammed the Al Saud regime for its persecution of demonstrators and urged it to carry out an investigation into the killings of protesters. Riyadh has escalated its crackdown on protesters since the beginning of 2012.