ammonnews.net

Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Families of Jordanian nationals detained in Saudi Arabian prisons held a sit-in in front of the Saudi Embassy in Amman on thursday to plea the prisoners' release.

Head of the National Committee for Jordanian Detainees Abdul Karim Shraideh told Ammon News that Jordanians detained in Saudi Arabia are suffering from harsh imprisonment conditions amidst overcrowded cells.

He noted that 24 Jordanians detained in Anbar 2 prison in Tabuk province in southern Saudi Arabia are held on charges of smuggling, but have not stood trial for months.

Some of them have been detained for nearly a year and half without standing trial, Shraideh added.

"Some of the detainees were imprisoned based on uncorroborated accounts," Shraideh told Ammon News, adding that some of the prisoners were detained over false allegations made by others.

Jordanians imprisoned in Saudi are betting on the prisoners' exchange agreement between Jordan and Saudi Arabia for their release.

Preliminary information, however, indicate that the agreement may only cover prisoners who have been convicted, which applies to only 4 of the 24 Jordanians detained in Saudi Arabia.

The detainees have been in contact with the Jordanian Embassy in Riyadh, which in turn promised to send attorneys and defense teams to defend their cases before Saudi courts.

Shraideh however stressed that the promise has not been fulfilled as of yet, prompting detainees' families to organize a protest on Monday night to plea their release.

The protesters on Thursday blasted what they considering "stalling" on the part of the Jordanian Foreign Ministry in attending to the cases of Jordanians imprisoned in Saudi Arabia.