Thamer Qamqoom Okaz/Saudi Gazette BAGHDAD – Iraqi lawyers who have taken on Saudi prisoners in Iraq as clients have received death threats, an Iraqi lawyer told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. The lawyer, who was speaking anonymously, has been authorized to defend Saudi prisoners facing execution. He said Iraqi prison authorities have enforced draconian measures to prevent the lawyers from seeing their Saudi clients. He said Iraqi lawyers, himself included, have been experiencing great difficulty when attempting to visit the prisoners. He said prison authorities are always rude to the lawyers. Not long ago, some Iraqi lawyers who took up such cases were killed and others lost limbs after a bomb planted in their cars went off, according to the lawyer. Some Saudis have been placed in solitary confinement at Abo Ghraib Prison and Al-Hoot Prison, while some have been transferred to Al-Nasiriya Prison. Abdul Rahman Al-Jurais, who is defending Saudi prisoners in Iraq, said one of the Saudi prisoners, Malwah Zaid Al-Shammary, has been suffering from amnesia and is now mentally handicapped as a result of being tortured by Iraqi prison officers. He said the prisoner's family authorized him to arrange for their son to return to Sakaka, where he was born and raised. He entered Iraq in 2008 and was later placed in a notorious prison. Currently, he is an inmate at Krobar Prison near Baghdad Airport. Malwah's brother said: “My brother suffers from chronic psychological disorders. That's what I was told by some prisoners. “I urge authorities including the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations Commission to save my brother. “He should be transferred to a mental health hospital immediately.” Meanwhile, Majed Saeed Al-Ghamdi, who has spent over 10 years in Iraqi prisons, urged the National Society for Human Rights to help Saudi prisoners in Iraq. Al-Ghamdi was sentenced to 15 years in prison for illegally crossing Iraqi borders in 2003. He is hopeful that he will spend his next Eid holiday with his family in the Kingdom. He said all Saudi prisoners in Iraq are being treated brutally and urged them to go on a hunger strike in protest.
