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29-04-2020
By SJA Jafri + Agencies
NEW YORK/ LONDON/ RIYADH: The reported denial of healthcare to Abdullah al-Hamid was “morally wrong” and “unacceptable”, a prominent European politician said on Monday, following the death of the Saudi human rights defender in prison last week.
Al-Hamid was “a pioneer” in advocating for Saudi Arabia to recognize the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, said Maria Arena, the Belgian chair of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights.
“I am shocked to hear that one of Saudi Arabia’s leading human rights voices has passed away in prison at the age of 69, while serving an 11-year prison sentence,” she said.
“He dedicated his whole life to fighting against harmful practices and to protecting all those defending basic rights and freedoms in his country.”
Many Saudi human rights activists, women’s rights activists, and peaceful dissidents are currently detained in the country on accusations that relate to human rights work, and reports of poor treatment in prisons are frequent.
“Saudi authorities were aware of Professor al-Hamid’s poor health since early 2020,” said Arena, a member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats grouping in the parliament.
“Denying proper medical care to detainees is a violation of the right to life and a form of cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment. This is not only morally wrong; it is unacceptable,” she continued.
“Prominent Saudi women’s rights defenders and human rights activists, including Sakharov Prize laureate Raif Badawi, are currently being detained for peacefully exercising their basic rights, including the right to freedom of expression. In the context of the COVID-19 and at a time when joint efforts are needed to defeat the virus, including in places of detention, I strongly encourage the Saudi authorities to take steps to release all human rights defenders and to apply preventive and protective health measures without discrimination.”
Al-Hamid was being held in a Riyadh prison when he fell ill earlier this year. He was transferred to a hospital in January, where he suffered a stroke and fell into a coma in early April, according to rights groups including Amnesty International.
The Right Livelihood Award Foundation, which awarded al-Hamid the “alternative Nobel prize”, said the academic was repeatedly denied crucial medical care and “paid the ultimate price for his convictions”.
Ole von Uexkull, head of the foundation, blamed Saudi authorities for his death, saying that al-Hamid’s “unlawful imprisonment and inhumane treatment … led to his death”.
“We hold Saudi authorities directly responsible for al-Hamid’s death, as they have deliberately denied him access to proper medical care for many months during his imprisonment,” von Uexkull added in a statement on Friday.
In persistence of regular exclusive reporting and especial coverage of Press Media of India (PMI) against inhuman, illegal, unethical, un-Islamic, anti-religious and satanic acts, activities and practices of the regime of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) those have been continuing since a long and in continuation of PMI’s journalism the KSA would have to change its rules, laws and doings which were highlighted and have been stressing by PMI but on the other hand, because of these ultimate changing, and on the basis of these eventual altering the masses of KSA as well as all over the world, their mindsets are being changed rapidly and due to this overall changes neither the KSA’s regimes feel it favorable for them nor many 
other ‘world powers’ especially America and Israel are ready to accept these alterations and to stop PMI, they have once again started to search “PMI’s Characters” those have been involved to highlighting regimes’ crimes and issued heavy amount to block them hence, over 50 million US dollars award has already been fixed as head money by MBS, sources claimed and confirmed many
reports in this regard including this one while talking to Messenger/ National and PMI, the said sources further claim that if the regime of KSA or any other authority or concerned ministry not refute the fixation of head money claim for PMI workers after the publication of this news within 72 hours, it means and it would be considered that this news is not only 100 percent true and correct like other previous published reports but also the concerned PMI journalists would be beheaded not only on arrival in KSA but also anywhere across the world as Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi assassinated inside the Saudi Consulate inside Turkish capital Istanbul on 02-10-2018
Meanwhile, the KSA has secretly decided to offer to all detained human rights activists for their release if they keep themselves silent during current year because the PMI has already been exposed KSA’s worst practices and its regime’s anti-Islamic and anti-Shia policies.
