Riyadh detains relatives of US citizen after a Pennsylvania lawsuit, rights groups say

Source: Reuters

Riyadh detains relatives of US citizen after a Pennsylvania lawsuit, rights groups say

Aziz El Yaakoubi
Wed, July 26, 2023 at 7:06 AM EDT·2 min read

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian authorities have detained five relatives of a U.S. citizen, three rights groups said on Wednesday, arguing that the detentions were retaliation for his family's failed lawsuit against the Saudi government in the United States.

The Freedom Initiative, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) and ALQST for Human Rights told Reuters Saudi security forces had arrested four relatives of 15-year-old U.S. citizen Rakan Nader Aldossari on May 11.

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The Saudi prosecutor's office referred the five to the kingdom's Specialized Criminal Court, which tries terrorism cases, on July 12, the rights groups said. They added that Saudi authorities had prevented the detainees' lawyers from meeting with them or obtaining access to the charges against them.

Rakan's father Nader Aldossari, a U.S. resident, said interrogators told detained family members that they would not be released unless both Rakan and he returned to Saudi Arabia, the statement said. The groups listed the detainees' relations to Rakan, a U.S. citizen, urging Washington to intervene.

The Aldossari family filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania in 2020 against the Saudi government after a long-standing commercial dispute over an agreement in 1994 to establish an oil refinery in Saint Lucia, a Caribbean Island.

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Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/riyadh-detains-relatives-us-citizen-110603825.html