Saudi Dissident Says Group Faces Harassment

The World
The World

Saudi Arabian professor of economics, Mohammad al-Qahtani, says the government is cracking down on Saudi civil rights activists, like himself.

In October 2009, Qahtani co-founded the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association to press for more freedom.

The former US resident has loudly advocated for civil and human rights, and had not run into any trouble until now.

Professor Qahtani believes he himself is about to be fired, and that comes not long after he was summoned to the public prosecutor’s office and told he would no longer be allowed to travel abroad.

He says several colleagues are facing similar harassment.

But Qahtani says the authorities are wrong if they think they will be deterred. “If we lose our jobs, at least we’ll have more time to campaign.”

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