RIYADH: The
Presidency of State Security has issued a clarification concerning the
“extremism concept” promotional video which was broadcast by the
General Department for Counter-Extremism.
In a statement, the presidency said that the video’s content was inaccurate and
contained many mistakes in defining extremism.
It was noted that the person who prepared and published the video acted wrongly
and on his own behalf. According to the official statement, the person was
brought in for investigation and steps were taken to deal with the social media
in order to ensure that such mistakes were not made again.
The presidency also
pointed out the erroneous article published on Nov. 11 in Al-Watan newspaper
which said “heavy punishment will be imposed on feminists, including jail
time and flogging.”
The presidency clarified that the story was untrue, pointing out that it was
not a regulatory or judicial body as stipulated by the Statute of Governance
and other statutes. The presidency has taken the necessary legal action with
the relevant authorities against Al-Watan newspaper regarding the incorrect
report it published.
In a tweet on Tuesday, the Saudi Human Rights Commission confirmed that
feminism was not criminalized in Saudi Arabia and that the Kingdom accorded the
greatest importance to women’s rights. The commission noted the fundamental
strides taken for the empowerment of women which have granted them their
complete rights.
