Jailed Saudi Princess with no contact to family fears coronavirus infection: Reports

Jailed Saudi Princess who has not been able to contact her family since she went public with her appeal for release, now fears contracting coronavirus. Princess Basmah bint Saud was detained without any charges and pleaded to be released from jail in a letter on April 16 after all her other requests went unanswered. According to reports, before the tweets caused a spiral in the Saudi royal family, the detained 56-year-old was allowed one telephone call every week. However, since Saudi Princess went public, there has been absolutely no contact with her family. 

According to a source of an international news agency, the Saudi Princess had informed her family about prison being under caution as some cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the premises of the prison  Al-Ha'ir. The source had also said that Princess Basmah bint Saud’s Twitter account was apparently hacked by someone in the kingdom who cited “deteriorating health” to plead her release after being “abducted”. Separately, a prison employee has reportedly told the royal family that there have been a ‘handful’ of coronavirus cases in the jail. As of May 5, Saudi Arabia has confirmed 28,656 cases of COVID-19 with at least 19 fatalities.

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Saudi Princess makes public appeal

The Saudi Princess took to Twitter and posted about how her “health is deteriorating” and cited medical complications for her freedom from the high-security prison. However, within a few hours, the posts were deleted by the authorities. The 56-year-old was arrested in March 2019 just before she was travelling to Switzerland, reportedly for medical treatment. The Saudi Princess claimed that she was “thrown into prison” after being “abducted without an explanation” along with one of her daughters.

In the post, Princess Basmah said that she was being held in prison “without criminal, or otherwise any charges” and confessed that her medical condition might lead to her death. She also explained how the letters sent by her to the Royal Court have been left unanswered and she has not received any medical care while in the prison.

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(With agency inputs)