11 princes arrested for protesting royal decree, court ruling

CAIRO – 6 January 2018: The Saudi Royal Guards arrested 11 princes, who gathered in the Ruling Palace and refused to leave demanding the cancelation of a royal decree and protesting the execution of their cousin Prince Turki bin Seoud, Sabq News reported on Saturday.

Electricity and water bills used to be paid by the government on behalf of the princes, but the protested decree abolished that system.

The arrested princes also requested a financial compensation for the execution of their cousin, who was convicted of killing his friend in a fight three years ago. The execution took place in October.

The princes led by "Prince S. E. S. bin Seoud bin Faisal bin Turki" will be prosecuted in custody as they were transferred to Haeer prison in the Saudi capital al-Riyadh.
In November, the Saudi Government detained 208 princes and business men in the Ritz Carlton Hotel as a part of an anti-corruption campaign. Only seven had their charges dropped.

Over 2,000 Saudi bank accounts have been frozen during the probe, causing concern that the crackdown could damage the economy. But the government has insisted that the companies of detained businessmen will continue operating normally, as Reuters reported.

The vast majority of about 200 businessmen and officials implicated in a sweeping crackdown on corruption are agreeing to settlements under which they hand over assets to the government, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the New York Times.

“We show them all the files that we have and as soon as they see those about 95 percent agree to a settlement,” which means signing over cash or shares in their companies to the Saudi Treasury, the newspaper quoted Prince Mohammed as saying.

“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."

Prince Mohammed repeated a previous official estimate that the government could eventually recover around $100 billion of illicit money through settlements.