Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to protest the continued detention of Mohamed al-Oshen, editor-in-chief of the Riyadh-based Islamist weekly Al-Mohayed, who has been in detention for almost two weeks.
According to press reports and local sources, al-Oshen was detained on January 8 by Saudi security forces. A local source told CPJ that Al-Mohayed had recently published material that harshly attacked the Saudi government, as well as articles that criticized it for not taking a more active role in advocating for the release of Saudi prisoners held by U.S. authorities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
No charges have been made public against al-Oshen.
The German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported that al-Oshen, who has two brothers at Guantanamo, is also a member of the legal defense team for Saudi detainees.
We call on Your Excellency to make public the reason for al-Oshen’s imprisonment. If al-Oshen has been detained merely for expressing his views, he should be released immediately.
We thank you for your attention to this important matter and look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Ann Cooper
Executive Director