After more than a year in detention Riyadh files trumped up charges against Shia cleric ‘Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer’

Saudi court in Riyadh brought ten charges against senior Shia cleric ‘Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer’
Shia Post – 14 August, 2012

Saudi Shia cleric Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer who has been held for one year without trial had been presented to Central Criminal Court in Riyadh 9 August 2012.

Central Criminal Court filed ten charges against Sheikh al-Amer, as in an charge sheet.

Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer, the Shia leader prayer of the Imam Baqi mosque in the town of al-Hofouf in al-Ahsa district of the Eastern Province, was arrested on 3 August 2011 by the General Intelligence (Al-Mabahith Al-’Aamma) of Al-Ahsa.

Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer called for a constitutional monarchy in Saudi Arabia which is an absolute monarchy.

His charges range from tarnishing the reputation of the state, calling for the conservative Islamic kingdom to become a constitutional monarchy, equal rights for the oppressed Shia minority and put an end to sectarian discrimination in the country.

It is worth to mention that Shaikh Tawfiq al-’Amer was arrested on 27 February 2011 by the Saudi General Intelligence.

On June 22, 2008 Shaikh Tawfiq al-’Amer was arrested, after he spoke out in a sermon he gave in Hofuf on June 11 against a May 30 statement signed by 22 prominent Saudi Wahhabi clerics, including Abdullah bin Jibrin, Abd al-Rahman al-Barrak, and Nasir al-‘Umar, in which they called the “Shia sect an evil among the sects of the Islamic nation, and the greatest enemy and deceivers of the Sunni people.”

In September 2008 , Shaikh al-’Amer was arrested for the second time according a direct order from the Interior Minister (Nayef bin Abdulaziz).

In April 2005 Shaikh al-’Amer was arrested over his supporting religious and societal activities in his town.

Sheikh Amer is one of the prominent advocates of civil rights and freedoms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Also, he is well knows for his bold views of reforms at high levels. …source