A prominent Saudi princess jailed without charges made a rare public appeal to the king and crown prince on Thursday for her release from a high-security prison, citing her ‘deteriorating’ health.
Princess Basmah bint Saud, a 56-year-old businesswoman and an outspoken royal family member, was detained in March last year just before she was due to travel to Switzerland for medical treatment, according to a source close to her family.
The public plea for her release is the latest sign of turmoil within the kingdom’s secretive royal family following the detention last month of King Salman’s brother and nephew in an apparent attempt to stamp out internal dissent.
‘As you may be aware (?) I am currently being arbitrarily held at Al-Ha’ir prison without criminal, or otherwise any charges,’ the princess wrote in a letter published on her verified Twitter account.
Princess Basmah Bint Saud issued a plea for her release from jail via her official Twitter account on Friday, more than a year after she was last seen in public
Posting in English, she said her health is deteriorating and could lead to her death. She did not say what is causing her illness, but it comes amid a coronavirus outbreak in Saudi Arabia
‘My health is deteriorating to an 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.’
Saudi authorities have not disclosed the reasons for her detention.
The princess claimed she was ‘thrown into prison’ after being ‘abducted without an explanation’ along with one of her daughters.
She appealed to her uncle King Salman and her cousin – de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – for her release as she had ‘done no wrong’ and added that her health status was ‘very critical’.
The princess did not specify her ailment but her letter comes as the kingdom grapples with the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic.
The government has imposed round-the-clock curfew across much of the country to limit the spread of the virus. Saudi Arabia has reported 6,380 infections and 83 deaths from the disease so far.
It was unclear how the princess was able to tweet from inside Al-Ha’ir, a high-security prison close to Riyadh known for holding political prisoners.
Her public plea represents an unusually bold move by someone from the kingdom’s sprawling royal family, comprising thousands of members, who typically refrain from publicly raising internal grievances.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has orchestrated a crackdown on critics of the regime with detentions and others mysteriously disappearing
Princess Basmah called for an end to the Saudi war in Yeman as well as reform of the kingdom’s monarchy, but she has not made any major media appearances since speaking to the BBC in January 2018
CCTV images showed the moment Saudi journalist and regime critic Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October. He was never seen leaving the building. Saudi Arabia has denies being behind his death
It comes after the detention last month of Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, the king’s brother, and the monarch’s nephew Prince Mohammed bin Nayef who was previously crown prince.
The government has yet to officially comment on the crackdown, which raised fears of government instability.
But one source close to the royal court dismissed such concerns and said the detentions were meant to send a stern warning within the royal family not to oppose the crown prince.
Prince Mohammed, heir to the Arab world’s most powerful throne, has pursued a broad crackdown on dissent since his meteoric rise to the position of crown prince in 2017.
Multiple women activists, clerics, bloggers and journalists have been jailed in what observers call increasing repression and authoritarianism under the prince’s de facto rule as he consolidates his grip on power.
In 2013, Princess Basmah bint Saud bin Abdulaziz al Saud, as she is known in full, claimed she was being blackmailed out of £320,000 for criticising the the Saudi regime.
She said a video of her blowing a kiss and smoking with her head uncovered – taboos in the strict Islamic kingdom – would have released by a ‘sheikh in his 30s from the UAE’ if she did not pay up.
Princess Basmah and Baron Henri Estramant during the Semper Opera Ball in Dresden, Germany in 2017
Since an interview with BBC Arabic last January in which she called for an end to the Saudi war in Yemen, Princess Basmah has made no major media appearances.
After her divorce in around 2010 she relocated to London, where she became outspoken about Saudi policies and attacks on critics.
In 2012, the princess told the BBC she was saddened that Saudi Arabia had not followed through with her father’s plans to reform the monarchy and separate the role of king from that of the prime minister.
Mohammed bin Salman has been accused of being behind the order to murder Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Turkish consulate last October.
He denies being involved and claims the killing was carried out but rogue forces in the country’s secret services.
A United Nations report earlier this year said that Saudi Arabia bore responsibility for Khashoggi’s death and said the crown prince’s possible role in it should be investigated.
In Washington, Congress has said it believes the crown prince is ‘responsible for the murder’.
Bin Salman said in September that he takes ‘full responsibility’ for the murder of Khashoggi as it happened ‘under my watch’, but denied allegations he ordered the killing.