Activists: Saudi Arabia detains 8 in sustained crackdown

Saudi Arabia detains at least 8 intellectuals and former bloggers in a fresh wave of arrests targeting people with links to reformers

Saudi Arabia has detained at least eight intellectuals and former bloggers in a fresh wave of arrests targeting people with links to reformers.

The London-based ALQST Saudi rights group and a person familiar with the arrests provided the names of those detained, which include writers who’d worked in some capacity on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 campaign to overhaul the Saudi economy and society.

The person familiar with the arrests said it was not immediately clear why the individuals were detained or if they’d been charged. The person spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

The arrests are part of a two-year-long crackdown on activists and perceived critics of the crown prince, which drew global attention after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.