Waleed Abu Alkhair, a 28-year-old Saudi lawyer, has learned to ignore telephone threats ordering him to stop “defaming’’ Saudi Arabia. Neither would he be silenced after being beaten up in Jeddah last month by people he believes were security agents on his return from a human rights workshop in Yemen.
“We used to be the kingdom of silence, but we will not be intimidated any more,” says Mr Abu Alkhair. “We do not seek regime change, but want an end to government abuses. We want ordinary Saudis to have a say in the country’s future, not only the royal family.”
