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2017–2019 Saudi Arabian purge

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2017 Saudi Arabian purge
Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, head of the Saudi Anti-Corruption Committee which ordered the arrests
Date2017
LocationSaudi Arabia
TypeGovernmental purge
MotiveDisputed
Arrests500

A number of prominent Saudi Arabian princes, government ministers, and business people were arrested in Saudi Arabia on 4 November 2017[1] and the following few weeks after the creation of an anti-corruption committee led by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (also known as MbS).

There are three alternate hypotheses regarding the motives behind the purge: a genuine corruption crackdown, a project to gain money, or preparing to take over the crown.[2]

The detainees were confined at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh (which hosted the announcement for the planned city of Neom on 24 October 2017),[1][3] which subsequently stopped accepting new bookings and told guests to leave.[4] Private jets were also grounded to prevent suspects from fleeing the country.[4]

The arrests resulted in the final sidelining of the faction of the late King Abdullah and MbS's complete consolidation of control of all three branches of the security forces,[4] making him the most powerful man in Saudi Arabia since his grandfather, the first King, Ibn Saud.[3]

As many as 500 people were rounded up in the sweep.[5] Saudi Arabian banks froze more than 2,000 domestic accounts as part of the crackdown.[6] According to the Wall Street Journal, the Saudi government targeted cash and assets worth up to $800 billion.[7] The Saudi authorities claimed that amount was composed of assets worth around $300 billion to $400 billion that they can prove was linked to corruption.[8][9]

Attorney General Sheikh Saud Al Motjeb said in a statement that the arrests were "merely the start of a vital process to root out corruption wherever it exists." He added that those detained would have access to legal counsel and pledges to hold trials "in a timely and open manner."[10] Meanwhile, King Salman appointed 26 new judges.[11]

MbS stated that "We show them all the files that we have and as soon as they see those about 95 percent agree to a settlement...About 1 percent are able to prove they are clean and their case is dropped right there. About 4 percent say they are not corrupt and with their lawyers want to go to court."[12] When asked about reports of cash and assets totaling $800 billion that belong to the people accused of corruption, the official said, "Even if we get 100 billion back, that would be good."[13]

Allegations

The allegations include money laundering, bribery, extorting officials, and taking advantage of public office for personal gain.[14]

Many analysts believe that the campaign is aimed at repressing the critiques of bin Salman. After the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, Middle East Eye revealed by citing unnamed Saudi sources that the murder is part of a larger operation of silently murdering critics of Saudi government by a death squad named Tiger Squad, composed of the most trusted and skilled intelligence officials of the Crown Prince, bin Salman. The tiger squad assassinates dissidents using varying methods such as planned car accidents, house fires, or poisoning in a clinic by injecting poisonous substances to a member of opposition referred to a Saudi hospital for a regular health checkup. The five-member squad were also the part of the 15-member death squad who were sent to murder Khashoggi. According to the sources, bin Salman has chosen silent murder instead of arrest as the method of repression due to the fact only arresting the dissents spark international pressures for releasing them, whereas silent murder covers it up as a natural incident. Prince Mansour bin Muqrin has already been assassinated by shooting down his personal aircraft as he was fleeing the country but it was made to appear as a natural accident. Meshal Saad al-Bostani a member of the tiger squad and a lieutenant in Saudi airforce was behind the murder but he himself was also later murdered by a food poison but reported to have died as a result of car accident. Another victim has been Suliman Abdul Rahman al-Thuniyan, a Saudi court judge who was murdered by injection of deadly virus to his body when he had visited a hospital for a regular health checkup. This took place after he had opposed bin Salman's 2030 Economic Vision.[15]

Corruption

King Salman stated that the anti-corruption committee need to "identify offences, crimes and persons and entities involved in cases of public corruption". He also referred to the "exploitation by some of the weak souls who have put their own interests above the public interest, in order to illicitly accrue money".[16][14]

Extremism

On 24 October 2017 bin Salman who ordered the arrests, told investors in Riyadh that "We are returning to what we were before, a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world". He also pledged to counter "extremism very soon".[17]

List of involved people

Those arrested, detained, or removed from their posts include, but are not limited to:

Princes

Detained

Uncertain status

  • The fate of Prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd, youngest son of King Fahd, is uncertain. There were rumors that Abdul Aziz, age 44, was killed while resisting arrest, but the Saudi information ministry released a statement saying that the prince was "alive and well."[24]

Politicians

Detained

Businessmen

Detained

Reactions

According to Sam Blatteis, Middle East Public Policy Manager for Deloitte[32] and a former Google head of public policy in the Persian Gulf, "This is the closest thing in the Middle East to glasnost"; other businessmen have compared the purge to Russian president Vladimir Putin's politically-motivated attacks on Russian oligarchs.[7] The Economist has likened the purge to the anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China.[3] Thomas Friedman at The New York Times called it Saudi Arabia's Arab Spring.[33]

In Saudi Arabia the purge has been supported by the Council of Senior Scholars.[34][33]

Aftermath

The 2017 purge of the Saudi political and business elite was followed in 2018 by arrests of 17 women's rights activists, including Aziza al-Yousef, Loujain al-Hathloul, Eman al-Nafjan, Aisha al-Mana and Madeha al-Ajroush[35] as well as Hatoon al-Fassi, a women's rights activist and associate professor of women's history.[36] Eastern Province human rights activist Israa al-Ghomgham and her husband, already in prison since December 2015, were under legal threat of beheading along with four colleagues, with a final hearing to take place on 28 October 2018 in the Specialized Criminal Court.[37][38]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b David Kirkpatrick (4 November 2017). "Saudi Arabia Arrests 11 Princes, Including Billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  2. ^ Danielle Pletka (8 November 2017), "WHAT JUST HAPPENED IN SAUDI ARABIA? THE WEEKEND PURGE EXPLAINED", American Enterprise Institute, Newsweek, retrieved 10 November 2017
  3. ^ a b c "The world should push the crown prince to reform Saudi Arabia, not wreck it". The Economist. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d "Saudi Arabia's unprecedented shake-up". The Economist. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  5. ^ Kulish, Nicholas (6 November 2017). "Ritz-Carlton Has Become a Gilded Cage for Saudi Royals". New York Times.
  6. ^ Exclusive: Saudi prince detention holds up loan to investment firm - sources Reuters
  7. ^ a b "The Saudi purge will spook global investors and unsettle oil markets". The Economist. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  8. ^ a b c d e Said, Summer; Stancati, Margherita (17 November 2017). "Saudi Arabia Pursues Cash Settlements as Crackdown Expands". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ a b c d e Golovkin, Pavel (17 November 2017). "Saudi Crackdown Escalates With Arrests of Top Military Officials". MSN. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Saudi Arrests, Missiles and Proxy Conflict, All in Just Five Days". 8 November 2017 – via www.bloomberg.com.
  11. ^ "Saudi anti-corruption purge: All the latest updates". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  12. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/23/opinion/saudi-prince-mbs-arab-spring.html
  13. ^ http://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-corruption-crackdown-billions-of-dollars-2017-11
  14. ^ a b "Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman widens purge". Al Jazeera. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  15. ^ "REVEALED: The Saudi death squad MBS uses to silence dissent". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  16. ^ "Saudi Arabia princes detained, ministers dismissed". Al Jazeera. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  17. ^ Dorell, Oren (5 November 2017). "Saudi prince behind sweep of arrests is known as young and brash, but has Trump's ear". USA Today. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  18. ^ Michelle Mark and the Associated Press (4 November 2017). "Saudi Arabia arrests 11 princes, including billionaire investor Prince al-Waleed bin Talal". Business Insider. Retrieved 5 November 2017. Eleven princes and dozens of former ministers were detained ... The government said the anti-corruption committee has the right to issue arrest warrants, impose travel restrictions and freeze bank accounts.
  19. ^ AFP (27 January 2018). "Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed freed after 'settlement'". Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 27 January 2018. The prince was released following an undisclosed financial agreement with the government, similar to deals that authorities struck with most other detainees in exchange for their freedom.
  20. ^ "Saudis arrest 11 princes, dozens of ex-ministers in shake-up". ynetnews. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  21. ^ a b Donna Abu-Nasr; Glen Carey; Vivian Nereim (4 November 2017). "Saudi Purge Sees Senior Princes, Top Billionaire Detained". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  22. ^ a b Patrick Wintour (5 November 2017). "Saudi arrests show crown prince is a risk-taker with a zeal for reform". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  23. ^ a b Becky Anderson and Sarah El Sirgany (4 November 2017). "Saudi anti-corruption sweep leads to high-profile arrests". cnn. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  24. ^ Akkad, Dania (8 November 2017). "Mystery surrounds fate of late King Fahd's son amid Saudi crackdown". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  25. ^ a b c d Igor Bosilkovski (4 November 2017). "Saudi Billionaire Prince Alwaleed Reportedly One Of At Least A Dozen Arrested For Corruption". Forbes. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  26. ^ a b "Factbox: Saudi Arabia detains princes, ministers in anti-corruption probe". reuters. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  27. ^ a b c d Durden, Tyler (7 January 2013). "Saudi 'Corruption' Probe Widens: Dozens Of Military Officials Arrested". Zero Hedge. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  28. ^ "Saudi princes among dozens detained in 'corruption' purge". BBC. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  29. ^ Factbox: Saudi Arabia detains princes, ministers in anti-corruption probe, November 5, 2017, Reuters
  30. ^ "Al Tayyar says operating normally after founder's arrest". Argaam. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  31. ^ Daily Sabah with Agencies, Istanbul (5 November 2017). "Alwaleed bin Talal, two other billionaires tycoons among Saudi arrests". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  32. ^ Middle East Institute (n.d.). "Sam Blatteis". Middle East Institute website. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  33. ^ a b Thomas L. Friedman (23 November 2017). "Saudi Arabia's Arab Spring, at Last". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  34. ^ "Muhammad bin Salman has swept aside those who challenge his power". The Economist. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  35. ^ McKernan, Bethan (23 May 2018). "Saudi police arrest three more women's rights activists". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  36. ^ "Saudis arrest another women's right activist". Al Jazeera English. 27 June 2018. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  37. ^ Brennan, David (21 August 2018). "Who Is Israa al-Ghomgham? Female Saudi Activist May Be Beheaded After Death Sentence". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  38. ^ "Saudi Prosecution Seeks Death Penalty for Female Activist". Human Rights Watch. 21 August 2018. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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