It was considered the biggest anti-corruption action in Saudi Arabia and unprecedented in the kingdom. In November 2017, dozens of princes, millionaires and businessmen were arrested following an operation that took place during a Saturday evening at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh. In all, about 400 people from the Saudi elite were arrested.
The targets of the operation were bank accounts frozen and under investigation, while the assets they owned passed to the state. The ‘purge’ order for the anti-corruption mega-action came from Mohammed bin Salman, the prince who commands the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Three years later, some of the most powerful Saudi figures who were detained at the time revealed details and their version of what happened on the day the anti-corruption brigade invaded the luxury hotel in Riyadh and made massive arrests, he said. the “The Guardian” newspaper.
Several detainees, including influential businesspeople, told the British newspaper that they had experienced “torture and coercion”, while Saudi Arabia’s royal advisers had to deal with a chaotic process to try to understand and evaluate the investments behind them. fortunes of the most influential Saudi families.
The ex-detainees now claim that they have been beaten and intimidated by security officers, under the supervision of two Saudi ministers who were Mohammed bin Salman’s trusted men.
Many arrests began with a telephone call to set up a meeting with Prince Mohammed or King Salman himself. Two businessmen also report that they were contacted to wait for a royal adviser in a hotel room, but who arrived, after all, was a security officer who left them trapped in the room.
“Many of the people were beaten. There were people tied to the walls, in stressful positions, and had to stay that way for four hours,” a source who was involved in the process told the Guardian.
These revelations come shortly before the G20 summit that will take place in Riyadh next weekend and, due to the circumstances of the pandemic, will take place in a webinar format.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman will also have to deal in January with a new presidency in the United States, which, most likely, will change the rules of the game vis-à-vis the Trump administration and force him to pay more attention to human rights issues.
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