A report by Human Rights Watch highlighted shocking news about recent detentions of adult children of the former Saudi intelligence chief, who has been self-exiled in Canada since 2017.
"Yet, what is happening to al Jabri cannot stand. That man put his life and position on the line. He chose to do what would save American and other innocent lives." https://t.co/2V97BWWbQ6
— Tom Rogan (@TomRtweets) May 26, 2020
After having their assets frozen in 2017 and after being interrogated by the Public Prosecution several times, 21-years-old Omar Al-Jabri and 20-years-old Sarah Al-Jabri were reportedly detained last March by Saudi authorities, only 10 days after the detention of Mohammed Bin Nayef and another senior Saudi prince.
BBC interviewed their brother Khalid who lives with their father in Canada as he confirmed the news, saying that "Omar and Sarah were kidnapped at dawn, on March 16, and were taken out of their beds by about 50 state security officers who arrived in 20 cars."
Saudi Arabia: Free Adult Children of Ex-Official https://t.co/kHrC1Qs461
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) May 25, 2020
According to HRW, all questions the two young children of Saad Al-Jabri had received were related to their father, who was a special aid to former Minister of Interior and Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Nayef, who was ousted by Mohammad Bin Salman in the summer of 2017, in what has since been described as a "palace coup."
Al-Jabri's family believes that his two children and his brother, who has just been arrested this May, are being "held captive to coerce Saad back to the kingdom."
This is the reformist prince Tom Friedman praised in NY Times!
— Evren Celik Wiltse (@EvrenWiltse) May 26, 2020
“we don't want to embarrass Saudi Arabia but kidnapping Omar and Sarah like this, it's daylight thuggery by a state."
Family of exiled top Saudi officer Saad al-Jabri 'targeted' - BBC News https://t.co/GnfyTgaZ9A
Saad Al-Jabri is well-known to Western intelligence agencies mostly for his role in fighting terrorism. One Western expert told BBC that "Dr Al-Jabri transformed Saudi counter-terrorism efforts," says another former western intelligence official. He changed it from being a crude, violent, confession-based system into one that used modern forensics and computer-based data mining."
Dr Saad al-Jabri, who helped foil an al-Qaeda bomb plot against the West, fled into exile three years ago, ahead of a purge by the all-powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
— jointeditio (@jointedition) May 25, 2020
Children of Saad Al Jabri Omar and Sarah were kidnapped at dawn on 16 https://t.co/zcqzGVTYgy pic.twitter.com/eBSV6WSA6L
Arrests of Al-Jabri's family members might be linked to his connections with US and Western officials and the information he has in relation to current Crown Prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammad Bin Salman.
This news, in addition to the well-known murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018, continues to raise questions regarding MBS's policies since he assumed power in 2017, despite his efforts to represent himself as a "young radical reformist" of the conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The abusive lengths #Saudi crown prince Muhammad bin Salman will go to silence dissent--authorities are now disappearing the children of a former Saudi intelligence official as a threat to get him to return because he knows "where the bodies are buried" https://t.co/lx6Fxa9Yfs pic.twitter.com/ubZyF77xmd
— Michael Page (@MichaelARPage) May 22, 2020