Saudi’s celebrated crown prince Mohammed bin Salman was elevated to the position of crown prince in June 2017, replacing his cousin Mohammed bin Nayef – a move that had been widely expected and could shape the direction of the country for decades.
The prince since then has has had ambitious plans. He said he wanted to create the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, worth up to $3tn, with money generated by partially privatizing the state oil company, Saudi Aramco. The plan also envisaged positive changes in the education curriculum, increasing women’s participation in the workforce, and investing in the entertainment sector to help create jobs for young people.
He also took some startling measures including in October when the prince said the return of “moderate Islam” was key to his plans to modernize the kingdom and he announced the investment of $500bn in a new city and business zone, dubbed Neom. The next month, Prince Mohammed launched an anti-corruption drive that many analysts said would eliminate the final obstacles to his gaining control of the kingdom. Eleven princes, four ministers and several influential businessmen were among dozens of people detained.
However despite his liberal measures including allowing women to drive and letting them in as spectators for sports events, there is a dark underside to the Saudi story as beneath it all, the crown prince has been showing the same vicious and orthodox approach to free expression and human rights that was a trademark of his predecessors.
The prosecution of Mr. Otaibi and Mr. Attawi proved support to this speculation. They and two others set up the Union for Human Rights five years ago and closed it down when they could not obtain license for the same. However, they were last week was imposed by the Specialized Criminal Court, the Saudi terrorism tribunal, which has often been used to punish dissidents and critics, and it sent a clear message to any others who dare advocate human rights. Raif Badawi, a blogger who envisioned a more enlightened Saudi Arabia, was imprisoned and served with 1000 lashes which gave rise to a lot of media protests.
Whether Prince Salman’s vision is a truth or a façade remains a boggling question.