Independent UN experts say radical Saudi Arabia scholar held for years should be tried or released

By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A radical Sunni scholar whose criticisms of Saudi Arabia’s government and the West drew praise from the late al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden should be immediately tried or released from a yearslong arbitrary detention by the kingdom. That’s according to a statement Wednesday by independent experts working with the United Nations. Safar bin Abdulrahman al-Hawali had been one of the prominent voices behind the Sahwa, or “Awakening” movement, in the kingdom. It called for strictly observing hard-line Wahhabi beliefs and criticized its royal Saud family. Al-Hawali has been held without trial since 2018 as part of a wider crackdown on all dissent under King Salman and his assertive son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.