Saudi reformist writer 'jailed for 4 years'

By AFP

Published: December 21, 2015

Zuhair Kutbi was also banned from writing for 15 years and fined 100,000 riyals, says lawyer. PHOTO COURTESY: PRESS TV.IR

DUBAI: A Saudi reformist writer who called his fellow intellectuals “cowards” and his country racist has been jailed for four years and banned from writing, his lawyer and son said Monday.

Zuhair Kutbi “was sentenced to four years prison” and banned from writing for 15 years, lawyer Ibrahim al-Midaymiq tweeted at @imodattorney.

Half of the sentence was suspended, meaning he will serve the other two years.

Kutbi’s son Jameel Zuhair Kutbi gave the same information at @DrEngJimmy.

“My father has been sentenced”, Jameel said.

The writer was also fined 100,000 riyals ($26,667) and banned from travelling for five years, they said.

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In a tweet on Sunday, the son said his father was to be sentenced by a “terrorism” court.

It was not immediately clear what he was guilty of, but activists have accused Saudi Arabia of using such courts to target members of civil society.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said in August that Kutbi, 62, was detained after an interview in June in which he called for reforms including “transforming the country into a constitutional monarchy and combatting religious and political repression”.

It said authorities apparently questioned him about his television appearance on the private Rotana Khalijiya channel, “which had attracted considerable attention on social media”.

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According to translated excerpts of the show carried by the US-based Middle East Media Research Institute, Kutbi said he had been jailed six times.

He said he had also been sent to an “insane asylum” for demanding reform.

Kutbi said most Saudi intellectuals “do not speak the truth” and “racism and regionalism” are part of Saudi identity, according to MEMRI.

எழுத்தாளருக்கு நான்கு ஆண்டு சிறை

ரியாத், டிச. 23_ சவுதி அரேபியாவைச் சேர்ந்த சீர்திருத்த எழுத்தாளர் ஷுகைர் குத்பி. நாட்டில் இனவெறி தாண்டவமாடு வதாகவும், அதை எதிர்க் காமல் மற்ற எழுத்தாளர் கள் கோழைத்தனமாக பயந்தாங் கொள்ளிகளாக இருப்பதாகவும் கருத்து தெரிவித்து இருந்தார்.

எனவே இவர் சவுதி அரேபிய அரசால் கைது செய்யப்பட்டார். அவர் மீது தீவிரவாதம் தடுப்பு நீதிமன்றத்தில் வழக்கு தொடரப்பட்டது.
வழக்கை விசாரித்த நீதிமன்றம் அவருக்கு 4 ஆண்டு சிறை தண்டனை யும், 15 ஆண்டுகள் எழுத தடையும் விதித்து தீர்ப்ப ளித்தது. மேலும் ஒரு லட் சம் ரியால் (ரூ.18 லட்சம்) அபராதமும் விதிக்கப் பட்டது.