“Voice of the People” paper, affiliated with the opposition Saudi National Assembly Party, said those authoritarian regimes are keen to strengthen their security and intelligence services in order to foil any anti-government movement or action.
Saudi Arabia remains one of the world's most authoritarian regimes, where security forces routinely target the opposition leaders and activists, especially when anti-government voices have risen.
Due to its financial support and other resources, security services seem to be more developed than opposition movements. Its functional work at home differs from its work abroad.
At home, security services mainly work on collecting information on opposition activists and rights organisations, while abroad, they work on penetrating opposition groups, co-opting some opponents, and threatening to arrest their relatives.
Saudi authorities tried to penetrate into the Islamic movement for reform after recruiting Abdulaziz al-Khamis, who was presented in media outlets as a prominent critic of the authority. However, al-Khamis's mission was stopped, to be later resumed by other elements.
Today, social media platforms have played an important role in exposing these suspicious figures who mainly work on creating confusion and differences between the opposition groups and leaders.
However, the real opposition's role is to put an end to the regime's tyranny and repression. Diversity is a legitimate right for all the people of the same country, as it supports political work.
To al-Khamis and his followers, we say that justice will take its course, and reform will be achieved sooner or later, whatever was the cost. However, pro-government elements will only be forgotten.
