 Mikhlif Al-Shammari |
The Prosecutor General's office in Dammam has charged local community mediator, Mikhlif Al-Shammari, 55, with ‘disturbing the peace'. A former businessman from Al-Khobar, a suburb of Dammam in Saudi Arabia's Eastern province, Mr Al-Shammari has recently come under attack from the Saudi authorities for his human rights work as a intermediary between the local Sunni and Shia communities.
Sources from within Saudi Arabia have confirmed that he was arrested for a second time this year on 15 June 2010, while having dinner at a friend's house in Jubail, 90km north of Dammam. He was first arrested on 15 May 2010 by Al-Khobar police, following orders from the Eastern provincial governor, Prince Muhammad.
His initial arrest was carried out without a judicial warrant ever being issued. He was detained for six hours before being released after his bail was granted.
During the short-lived custody he was questioned about several articles he had written criticizing anti-Shia rhetoric and policies common in Saudi Arabia. Mr Al-Shammari however rightfully refused to respond to police interrogations, as Saudi law stipulates that cases regarding any form of publication fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Information and Culture.
Since his second arrest this year, in mid-June 2010, Mr Al-Shammari has been held in Dammam prison, after being initially detained at the Al-Khobar police centre.
He was first arrested more than three years ago by secret police on 4 February 2007 following a meeting with a prominent Saudi Shia cleric, Sheikh Hassan Al-Saffar. He was subsequently detained for three months and released without charge.
In an effort to put further pressure on the Saudi authorities for Mokhlif Al-Shammari's release, Alkarama sent his case to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on 28 July 2010, requesting its intervention on his behalf.
Warrantless arrests and prolonged illegal imprisonment pose a major problem for human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia, as the authorities continue to enforce censorship not simply through gagging but also arbitrary detention. While Mokhlif Al-Shammari's charge has been officially termed as ‘disturbing the peace', it is clear from the facts that he has been jailed for having written and published articles that challenge the official stance of the ruling regime.