Saudi opponents discussed the fears and reactions of Saudi Arabia’s ambassador in London, Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan, who recently met with the students of “Oxford University”.
Saeed bin Nasser Al-Ghamdi, the Saudi opposition academic, shared a tweet saying “The guarded entry of the ambassador to the meeting place is against the custom of the university. He began the meeting by expressing his desire to hear different opinions as it beneficial, and he was met with serious questions by elite students of politics.
Al-Ghamdi mentioned that the Saudi ambassador asked him a number of questions, including the lack of independence of the Saudi judiciary and the king’s control of the judges and their rulings.
The students stressed that Saudi Arabia is the only country in which a person who is sentenced to several years and after finishing his term, his trial resumes on the same charges, and he is sentenced to new sentences.
The collective punishment of the relatives of activists and detainees was also raised, where women, children, or men are prevented from traveling, like the family of Sheikh Salman Al-Odah, or imprisoned, like the imprisonment of Omar Al-Zahrani’s brothers.
Students also raised the issue of fining one million riyals for those who write about the weather, to which the ambassador could not give a reasonable response.
The ambassador stressed that decisions made in Saudi Arabia are made after the approval of 80% of the people, which is the basis of their legitimacy.
He also added that King Abdullah had ridiculed the British for accepting the Brexit with only 52%. One of the students then asked how the opinion of the people is learned when members of the Shura Council are appointed and dismissed by the king, and when they do not even have the right to discuss any issues except those referred to them by the king.
“Facts are still emerging on the scene day after day, revealing the government’s failure to achieve reform, sought by the Crown Prince to clear the Kingdom’s image.”, Al-Ghamdi concluded.
