Manama: A Saudi consultant has threatened to take legal action against Iranian sites and Qatar-based Al Jazeera for including her name, and for posting her picture, in reports about arrests in Saudi Arabia.
“Some sites and channels published news about the arrest of an activist called Nouf Abdul Aziz, and used my full name and my pictures. These include Qatar’s Al Jazeera and some Iranian sites,” Nouf Abdul Aziz Al Ghamdi posted on her Twitter account.
“Since the claims are not related to me, I will report these sites and the people involved with them to the attorney general,” said Al Ghamdi, who introduces herself as the president of the Chief Outsiders Company and a strategic management designer.
One user told her she should go through with her decision, deny the claims by the sites and the channel, and turn the situation into a public opinion case for distorting the image of Saudi women in general and harming her reputation.
“Indeed, the purpose of these media is to abuse Saudi women and exploit such news to diminish the kingdom’s great achievements and the leadership’s drive to empower women and to support their rights,” Al Ghamdi said.
Last month, Saudi Arabia announced several people had been arrested for suspicious contacts with foreign entities and offering financial support to “hostile elements overseas”, and said other suspects were being sought.
Earlier this month, the authorities said they temporarily released eight people accused of communicating with organisations opposed to the kingdom.
Nine others, five men and four women, are still detained, state news agency SPA reported on June 2.
In a statement, the public prosecutor said the detainees had admitted to the charges of communicating and cooperating with individuals and organisations opposed to the kingdom, recruiting people in sensitive positions to get information and confidential documents to hurt the country’s interests, and offering material and moral support to hostile elements abroad.
Those who were released pending further investigation were five women and three men, the statement said.
The chief of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice had warned against groups and individuals who “target the government’s security and stability.”
