A request for consular access to Zaid Hamid by the Pakistan embassy has been denied by Saudi authorities.
Zaid Hamid, a Pakistani political commentator, and self-proclaimed security analyst is currently jailed in Saudi Arabia. According to sources, he was arrested for giving a provocative speech in Madina last month that criticized the Saudi government.
An agreement on consular access means that and imprisonment of a person of a foreign country will be notified, and if the embassy from the respective country requests accesses, they shall be provided with it.
In addition to the denial of consular access to him, a team from Counsel General Jeddah was denied access to meet him in Madina.
It is said that Zaid Hamid had criticized the Saudi government over the Yemen issue and his comments enraged the orthodox Saudi authorities.
Sources also claim that in his speech in Madina, he criticized Saudi Arabia;s government over the issue of Yemen, which in turn enraged the Saudi authorities.
Allegedly, Hamid has been sentenced to 8 years in prison and 1000 whip lashes. However, Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah has denied knowledge of the sentence given to him and claimed that Saudi authorities have not confirmed it.
Despite the fact that Hamid’s sentence has not been confirmed yet, multiple news sources have been consistently reporting that the Saudi authorities have decided on 8 years in prison and a 1000 lashes for Hamid.
However, the spokesperson did reveal that Hamid’s wife has been able to meet him at the Madina prison, due to the efforts of the foreign ministry.
