Nine Shiite Bahrainis were taken into custody in Saudi Arabia while they were performing the Hajj (pilgrimage) rituals, reported activists. They further stated that other citizens' passports were confiscated upon returning to their country, yet the reasons behind these moves are still unknown.
Reports say that the Saudi security authorities interrogated the 9 Bahraini nationals at the beginning of the Hajj season and withheld their passports, ordering them to report back to the authorities at the end of the Hajj rituals. When they reported back to the authorities later on, they were held and their families say they've lost contact with them since three days.
The detained Bahrainis are: Sayed Ibrahim Sayed Alawi Al-Shaherkani (Shaherkan), Hussein Jassem Rashid (Dar kleb), Abduljalil Hamza (Dar Kleb), Faisal Ibrahim Thamer (Dar Kaleb), Jaafar Ashour (Dar Kleb), Mirza Abdulrahim Thamer (Dar Kleb), Abdullah Ali Sultan (Dar Kleb), Ibrahim Habib Leith (Dar Kleb), and Riyadh Hassan (Al-Diraz).
Earlier this month, Saudi authorities detained 229 Indonesians for allegedly attempting to join the Hajj rituals without proper permits.
They had purportedly paid a local syndicate to help them join this year’s Hajj rituals without having to acquire the necessary documents, and were arrested at two Hajj pilgrim shelters around the city of Mecca.
source : abna24
