Saudi denies activist on hunger strike

A prominent Saudi rights campaigner, who has been detained for a year, is not on hunger strike, a Saudi interior ministry spokesperson has said. The official made the statement in response to activists saying he was in deteriorating health and Saudi authorities were to blame. Mohamad al-Bajadi was detained in March 2011 after expressing support for families demonstrating outside the Interior Ministry in Riyadh to demand the release of jailed relatives, fellow activists say. "Mohamad al-Bajadi did not go on hunger strike and he is in good health, consuming food on a regular basis and in the company of other inmates," ministry spokesperson Mansour al-Turki said late on Tuesday. Activists and the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) said at the weekend that Bajadi had been on hunger strike for the past month, and had stopped drinking water. Bajadi's condition could not be independently verified. His trial, on charges including tarnishing the reputation of the state, was suspended after he refused to recognize the court. Saudi Arabia is a monarchy that has no elected parliament and almost no tolerance for public dissent. The kingdom - after announcing a generous spending package early last year - avoided the kind of unrest that swept across other Arab countries. Independent rights groups estimate that the number of prisoners in Saudi Arabia ranges between 12,000 and 30,000 but the interior ministry denied there are any political prisoners in the kingdom. The ministry said last year it was holding 5,696 people for "militant" related cases, most of whom appeared before courts. Last week, the Saudi daily al-Watan reported that Crown Prince Nayef ordered the release of "non-dangerous" prisoners and those whose sentences are almost complete, citing a letter from the prince addressed to all governors of Saudi Arabia and the head of bureau of investigation and public prosecution. The pardon, which was ordered to cope with the high build-up of inmates in Saudi prisons, excluded detainees convicted in cases of national security, according to al-Watan.