Prince Alwaleed Moved To
Highest Security Saudi Prison After Refusing To Pay $6 Billion For Freedom
Goodbye
Ritz Carlton. Saudi Arabia's billionaire prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, has
been carted off to Al Ha'ir prison, south of Riyadh, after refusing to pay a reported $6 billion to Crown
Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to secure his freedom, following a massive
consolidation of power on November 4, 2017 in which over 300 princes, ministers and other elites were
rounded up in an "anti-corruption" purge.
Prince
Alwaleed Bin Talal
Sources
told the Middle East
Montior that nearly 60 detainees were transferred to the
most high security prison in the Kingdom. The prisoners include Prince
Al-Waleed Bin Talal as Prince Turki Bin Abdullah and a number of government
officials who refused to make the large financial
payments for their release.
Al'hair
prison
Among
those arrested on allegations of corruption is Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, the
Saudi King's nephew who is worth more than $17bn according to Forbes, and owns
stakes in Twitter, Lyft and Citigroup. According to a Daily Mail source, the
crown prince had lulled Alwaleedinto
a false sense of security, inviting him to a meeting at his Al Yamamah palace,
then sent officers to arrest him the night before the meeting.
'Suddenly
at 2.45am all his guards were disarmed, the royal guards of MBS storm in,' said
the source.
'He's dragged from his own bedroom in his pajamas,
handcuffed, put in the back of an SUV, and interrogated like a criminal.
'They hung them upside down, just to
send a message. Purged princes and the like were
taken to the Riydah Ritz Carlton Hotel, where they have reportedly been allowed
to buy their freedom by giving up their billions in oil wealth for their lives.
As the Daily Mail reported
in November, mercenaries purportedly employed by Academi - a successor to
infamous US security contractor Blackwater, have been stringing up some of
MBS’s “guests” at the Riyadh Ritz Carlton by their feet and savagely beating
them during interrogations. The claims have spread rapidly on Arabic-language
social media, and even Lebanon’s president Michel Aoun has accused MbS of using
mercenaries.
Meanwhile,
none of Prince Alwaleed's powerful friends appear to be coming to his defense.
As CNBC points out:
One
of the most stunning aspects of bin Talal's detention is how quiet his long
list of influential friends have been about it. This week brought at least some
mention of his plight with a statement from two
former French presidents who expressed concern over Alwaleed's status. But
let's face it: a few words from a couple of French ex-presidents is peanuts.
So now we have bin Alwaleed in an
actual prison, with a government aggressively taking cash and assets, and still
no significant outcry from his foreign friends. Bin Salman came to power last
summer after King Salman changed the order of succession and made Bin Salman
crown prince. In addition to his "anti-corruption" puge to
consolidate power and wealth, the country has embarked on an ambitious plan
called "Vision 2030"- which aims to modernize Saudi Arabia
and break its dependence on oil production, as well
as combat human rights violations.
In
late September, Saudi Arabia took the unprecedented step of
allowing women to drive. “The
royal decree will implement the provisions of traffic regulations, including
the issuance of driving licenses for men and women alike,” the Saudi Press
Agency said, according to Al Aribaya
Meanwhile, A
Saudi Government panel has asked that all marriage contracts for girls under
the age of 18 be approved by family courts - the latest step in a series
of sweeping reforms under the lead of their new Crown Prince,
Mohammad bin Salman. While falling short of outlawing child marriage, the
request marks the first major legislation involving
the long-standing practice primarily overseen by Saudi clerics and
local judges - not family courts.
The proposed legislation was part of a series of
recommendations by the Committee of Islamic and Judiciary Affairs last Monday,
which also called for "competent" family courts to oversee premarital
virginity tests for girls under 18. “The committee acceded to have those under
18 submit their marriage contracts, as well as a pre-marital tests to a competent court to determine their case" -Councilwoman Dr.
Eqbal Darandari
“Some
Shoura members disagreed with this decision because they believed it meant we
condone underage marriage," said Darandari, adding "Others
suggested that only those between the ages of 16-18 can transfer their cases to
a judge, and those below 16 cannot get married. Some
members demanded this be applied to underage boys, as well.” Dr.
Darandari is among several Saudi legislators who believe in an an age
limit for underage girls' to marry. "Girls’ voices must be heard and
their opinions taken into consideration. I don’t believe a pre-marital test is
enough. In my opinion, I think we need a female committee — made of a
doctor, lawyer, psychologist and social worker — that studies the girl’s state
in order to assess whether or not she can get married.”
She also warned of the damage which can occur to
children who are forced into marriage. “Those that are fifteen or
younger can undergo severe physical and psychological damage through marriage, and they’re probably unequipped for it. I believe
there should be sanctions to those who do not adhere to that, and in the case
of a marriage during that delicate age, a girl’s right to demand a
divorce if things don’t work out should be guaranteed.” -Dr. Eqbal Darandari
So there you have it - Bin Salman is
attempting to modernize his country, while wrestling power from long-standing
oil families. And for those who don't comply, it's off to prison where the
beatings shall continue until morale improves.
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