Since last Thursday, the princess has returned Basma Al Saud To her home with her daughter, Suhoud al-Sharif, after nearly three years of imprisonment after “publicly questioning government policy” in the kingdom, according to the New York Times.
The princess needs to travel abroad for treatment of heart problems, according to the newspaper, but it is unclear if the authorities will allow her to travel.
In the name of of Allah the Merciful
And prayers and peace be upon our master Muhammad and all his family and companions, and praise be to God, Lord of the worlds
All my gratitude and thanks go to my father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and his Crown Prince, His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Salman, may God protect them and take care of them.
All my thanks and appreciation.
— Princess Basma (@PrincessBasmah) January 9, 2022
Timelessness The New York Times From the legal advisor to the princess’s family, Henry Stramant, the medical care that the princess needs is not available in the kingdom.
Besides the princess, there were a number of activists, dissidents and members of the royal family who were imprisoned during the period of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s rise to power.
A number of them are still in custody and are under a travel ban, according to the newspaper.
detained princes
The New York Times said two sons of the former king, Abdullah Al Saud, remain in detention.
Also, the former Crown Prince, Prince Muhammad bin Nayef, who has handed over his position to Prince Muhammad bin Salman, is also still being held, after he was placed under house arrest until March.
Urgent: release #Basma_Al_Saud and her daughter #Souhd_al-Sharifarrested since March 2019. pic.twitter.com/oZFDUSjmKq
– ALQST for Human Rights (@ALQST_ORG) January 8, 2022
The newspaper said that Mohammed bin Nayef was initially held in solitary confinement, deprived of sleep, and hung upside down by his ankles, according to two sources who spoke to the newspaper, describing them as “informed of the prince’s condition.”
The prince was then transferred to a villa within a compound surrounding Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh.
The New York Times quoted its sources as saying that Prince Muhammad bin Nayef is being held without access to a television or any other electronic device, receives only limited visits from his family, and appears to have sustained permanent damage to his ankles as a result of being treated harshly while in detention.
No formal charges have been brought against Prince Muhammad bin Nayef so far, and the government has not issued any explanations for the reason for his detention.
A spokesman for the Saudi embassy in Washington did not respond to New York Times requests for comment on the case of Princess Basma or Prince Mohammed bin Nayef.
Reasons for arresting Basma
Prior to her arrest, the princess criticized the kingdom’s legal system and called for the adoption of a constitution that protects the rights of citizens. She also accused Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in a press interview in 2018, of refusing to accept those who do not support his reform plans, known as Vision 2030.
“He (Mohammed bin Salman) has a vision, Vision 2030, and I see that in that vision, there is a tendency towards sort of isolating all those who do not agree with that vision,” the princess said.
Saudi officials have not publicly commented on Princess Basma’s case, but in 2020, the Saudi mission to the United Nations in Geneva told a UN body that she “is accused of criminal offenses related to attempting to travel outside the kingdom illegally.”