(DUBAI, United Arab Emirates) — Saudi Arabia has detained eight people, including a dual U.S.-Saudi citizen, in new arrests targeting individuals supportive of women’s rights and connected to detained activists.
A person with knowledge of the arrests, who spoke anonymously for fear of retribution, told The Associated Press the individuals had been detained Thursday.
The individuals are not seen as frontline activists. Rather, they are writers and advocates who quietly supported greater social reforms, like the right of women to drive before the ban was lifted.
Among those detained is Salah Al-Haidar, a dual U.S.-Saudi national who has a family home in Vienna, Virginia, and lives with his wife and child in Riyadh. His mother is prominent women’s rights activists Aziza al-Yousef, who is on trial and recently was temporarily released from prison.
