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Saudi Arabia: Official Prison Visit Leads to the Pardoning of 1000 Detainees | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat- Major General Ali Al Harthy, the Director-General of Prisons in Saudi Arabia revealed new details about the visit of Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz, the deputy governor of Riyadh, to prisons in the Saudi capital. The visit that lasted 12 hours finished with the pardoning and release of 1000 male and female prisoners.

During a reception held May 2, 2006, to honor the committee for the protection of prisoners, released detainees and their families in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Riyadh, Al Harthy stated that Prince Sattam’s visit had ended with the release of 1000 prisoners. In addition, Prince Sattam honored 44 supporters of the committee.

The Director of Saudi prisons said that during the Prince Sattam’s visit, the honorary president of the committee “the sum of 25 million Saudi Riyals was paid to aid prisoners and those in need.”

Prince Sattam emphasized the importance of re-integrating former detainees into society. He praised the work of the national committee for the protection of prisoners, their goals and the effectiveness of their programs. He also called on society to help and support the establishing of humane and social projects to re-integrate released prisoners.

During the reception, Abdullah Al Muqayran, president of the committee for the protection of prisoners announced the acceptance of Prince Sattam to be honorary president of the committee in Riyadh.

As for the role of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Riyadh in supporting the prisoners, Abdul Rahman Al Jareesy, the president of the Chamber emphasized its role, which is mainly concerned with encouraging the private sector to contribute to charities and social work. Furthermore, continued Al Jareesy, the chamber seek to make a scientific approach available to transform individual efforts into institutional work to serve as many people in society as possible. He added that the Chamber also contributed to building a special office for the committee and its team.