A protest vigil was organised outside the Saudi Embassy in London in rejection of the UK's invitation to the Saudi Crown Prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), to attend the Queen's funeral.
The vigil was held by the legal advocacy NGO Detained International, amid large participation of human rights activists and Saudi exiled opponents.
Anti-MBS slogans were chanted during the protests, while banners reading “killers are not welcome” were also raised.
Head of Detained International David Haigh expressed regret of receiving MBS as a statesman while his hands are still stained with blood in Yemen.
We cannot accept his visit to the UK or participation at the Queen’s funeral especially as we are approaching the fourth anniversary of the assassination of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist who was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents in the Istanbul Saudi consulate in 2018, Haigh continued.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) commented: “The UK simply should not be welcoming dictators from states renowned for their atrocious human rights records, regardless of the region they come from.”
In his turn, the activist in Stop the War, Stephen Bell, said that MBS is responsible for one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world, where millions of people were killed and displaced in Yemen, calling for holding him accountable for his crimes and not to be hosted in a country that respects human rights and freedoms like the UK.
Along the same line, Detained International declared intention to organise similar protests over the coming days against MBS' visit to the UK, including a vigil outside the BBC headquarters in London on Monday, 09/19/2022 at 4 PM.
