Abdulilah al-Howeiti and Abdullah Dukhail al-Howeiti were sentenced to 50 years in prison and will not be allowed to leave the country for another 50 years for opposing bin Salman’s mega development project. Activist organizations denounced the escalation in the use of force and the convictions of those who protest or criticize. A $5 billion moon-shaped resort will be built in Dubai.
Riyadh () – The great development plans of the Gulf monarchies, from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates, which in recent days announced a project that will bring nothing less than the moon to the Dubai horizon, cover up abuses, violations and exploitation . And even prison for those who try to oppose dreams of greatness by trying to defend lands, fields and houses that contain decades of personal and family history. As happened in recent days in the Wahhabi kingdom, where two men were sentenced to 50 years in prison for rejecting the authorities’ relocation plan, within the framework of the futuristic city of Neom megaproject.
According to the activist movement Alqst, based in the United Kingdom and at the forefront of denouncing abuses and violations in the country, two members of the Howeitat tribe received the harshest sentence for having protested against expropriation and forced displacement. The land is needed to make room for Neom, a metropolis on the Red Sea built from scratch with an investment of 500,000 million euros, which requires “expelling” the tribes and families that had always lived in the area from their land.
Participation in the protests organized by his family and opposition to Riyadh’s plans will cost Abdulilah al-Howeiti and Abdullah Dukhail al-Howeiti, both originally from the northwestern province, 50 years in prison and a further 50-year ban on leaving the country. of Tabuk. The sentence was handed down by the criminal court of appeal, in the latest in a long series of harsh verdicts against anyone who expresses dissent, even peaceful dissent, with respect to the authorities in power. “It is part of a completely new trend – Lina al-Hathloul, head of communication at Alqst, tells Middle East Eye. And he spares no one. I believe that anyone who is arrested from now on will receive a very harsh sentence.”
The tribes dispossessed of their land allegedly received compensation ranging between 27,000 and 260,000 euros, but some sources report that the inhabitants of the Tabuk area would have received around 3,000 euros for the expropriated properties, houses and land. On the other hand, the Howeitat tribes denounce an escalation in the pressure exerted by the Saudi authorities to expel them, which has even resulted in cuts without prior notice of water and electricity supplies as well as continuous aerial surveillance with the use of drones. Those convicted are just two of a group of 150 people jailed for opposing the Neom project, which is part of “Vision 2030” and has the strong support of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In Dubai, a five billion euro project was also announced for the construction of a resort named “Moon” (see second photo) in honor of the Earth’s satellite. Arabian Business magazine reported that a luxurious moon-shaped complex will rise within 48 months in the famous Emirati resort, with a total height of 224 meters. A new “complement” to the “futuristic” skyline of the city, whose objective is to promote tourism to double the number of visitors in the coming years. The place will be surrounded by a “lunar colony” that can accommodate up to 2.5 million people per year and will offer an experience similar to “space tourism, but at prices that are considered affordable”.
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