Saudi authorities have released prisoner Murtaja Qureiris, who was arrested at the age of 13 for suspected involvement in anti-government protests, after he has served eight years in jail unjustly and arbitrarily.
Qureiris was reportedly arrested over a 2011 demonstration that took place in the kingdom’s eastern province of Qatif, home to the country’s Shia minority, calling for greater democratic rights and an end to persecution of Shias.
He had been deprived of most of his basic rights for the past eight years, having been completely denied any legal support or access to a lawyer, for nearly four years after his arrest, and he has not been allowed to do so until after the start of his trial.
Qureiris was accused by the Saudi Government of joining a “terror group” and “sowing sedition” despite being only 13 years old at the time of his arrest.
