Saudi Arabia crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched a “secret campaign” in order to silence the dissenters more than a year before US journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing in Saudi consulate Istanbul.
According to ANI news reports, the secret campaign included kidnapping, surveillance, arrest and torture of Saudi Arabia citizens, according to the United States officials, having knowledge of the reports said.
The American officials said the members of the group, a part of what they called “Saudi Rapid Intervention Group”, were involved in dozens of operations which has started in 2017.
The group carried out several missions including the extradition of Saudi dissidents from the other Arab nations and further arresting and torturing them.
The US officials, however, did not reveal their identities amid the fear of repercussions from the classified information and infuriating the Saudi Arabia government.
The report said the Saudi embassy in Washington spokesperson has said that Riyadh “takes any allegations of ill-treatment of defendants awaiting trial or prisoners serving their sentence very seriously”.
According to American intelligence agencies, Khashoggi’s murder was couped by the Saudi crown prince, as they alleged that MBS had ordered the killing of Khashoggi, according to the CIA assessments.
However, Saudi Arabi has denied doing any wrongdoing and repeatedly refused all the allegations levelled against the crown prince, adding that the country is committed to bringing justice to all perpetrators.