Royal Family Member Imprisoned Without Charge; Pleads for Release, 'I'm At Risk of Dying in Jail!'
On April 15, 2020, one of the members of a royal family appealed for her release from prison via Twitter.
Princess Basmah bint Saud of Saudi Arabia disappeared more than a year ago, but it was recently found out that she was jailed without charges.
She made a rare public appeal to the king and crown prince for her release from a high-security prison, saying that she would "die" inside because of her "deteriorating" health.
"I am currently being held in Al-Ha'ir prison without criminal or other any charges against my person," the Princess tweeted on her verified Twitter account, adding, "My health is deteriorating to the extent that is severe, and that could lead to my death."
"I have not received medical care or even a response to the letters I dispatched from jail to the Royal court."
The tweet was posted in Arabic and English, and she addressed her plea to King Salman and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Though the Princess didn't specify what was wrong with her, the tweet comes as the kingdom fights with the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic.
Princess Basmah is also a blunt member of the Saudi royal family. She has been a frequent advocate of reform in the kingdom, and had advanced women's rights and human rights during a brief media career and living several years in London where she acquired a business career.
In the past, she called for Saudi Arabia to become a constitutional monarchy, a change that would have separated the position of the monarch from the country's executive branch - a radical shift in its current status of an absolute monarchy.
Princess Basmah returned to Saudi Arabia in 2015, assuming the role of supporter of the royal family, but also a royal critic.
The 56-year-old businesswoman claims she's being arrested without charge in Riyadh with one of her daughters and said that neither of them had received an explanation for their arrests, despite repeated pleas to the kingdom's royal court, and her uncle, the king.
Saudi authorities have not revealed the reasons for her detention.
Princess Basmah is the last of King Saud's 108 children.
What Princess Basmah did was a rare step in a country where problems within the royal family are not typically raised or talked about in public.
Since Prince Mohammed became the official heir to the throne in 2017, authorities have detained most of his family relatives who were accused of extortion and others for unstated reasons. Some, however, have been released.
Among the most notable royals to be held captive were the king's full-blood brother Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, and the former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who was taken into custody just last month.
The government has yet to officially comment on what's happening, which has already raised fears of government instability.
However, according to one source who told AlJazeera, the royal court dismissed such concerns and said that the detentions were meant to send a stern warning within the royal family not to oppose the de-facto crown prince.
