Saudi princess Basma Banat Saud and her daughter have been released from prison after being arrested without any charges about two years ago, the BBC and AFP reported last night (Saturday).
Princess Basma is the youngest daughter of King Saud who ruled the kingdom between 1953 and 1964.
In a Twitter post, the human rights group ALQST announced that the princess had not received adequate medical care while in prison near the capital Riyadh, and she was in life-threatening condition.
Princess Basma, 57, was arrested in March 2019 as she was preparing to fly for medical treatment in Switzerland.
As stated, the reason for the arrest is unknown and she and her daughter were not charged with any offenses.
In 2020 her family submitted a statement to the UN stating that she had apparently been arrested because of her criticism of cases of abuse in which the government was involved.
According to the publications, one of the speculations is that Basma was arrested for her activities for human rights and her support for constitutional reforms in the kingdom.
Others estimated that the arrest was due in part to her ties to the deposed heir, the Prince Muhammad bin Naif, who was placed under house arrest on the orders of Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
In 2019, Ben Salman ordered a series of arrests of senior Saudi officials, as part of his path to his father's inheritance.
In recent years, his name has been linked to various scandals, including the assassination of Saudi publicist Jamal Hashukaji at the consulate in Istanbul.
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