Saudi protesters slam regime raids

Scores of Saudi Arabian protesters have rallied in the eastern city of Qatif to condemn recent brutal house raids by the kingdom's forces in a nearby village Press TV has learnt. “Our slogan forever, down with Mohammed Bin Fahd (the governor of the Eastern Province),” the protesters chanted on Wednesday, a Press TV correspondent reported. Saudi regime forces had on Tuesday conducted raids against people's houses in the village of Awamiyah in the province, using live ammunition. Four people were reportedly injured during the attacks. The province has been a scene of anti-regime demonstrations, with the outraged public urging human rights reforms, realization of freedom of expression, and the release of political prisoners. On March 5, 2011, the Saudi Interior Ministry called all public gatherings 'illegal,' authorizing the regime forces “to take all measures needed” against the people, who would defy the ban. Saudi activists say there are more than 30,000 political prisoners, mostly prisoners of conscious, in jails across the kingdom. According to human rights campaigners, most of the detained political thinkers are being held without trial or legitimate charges and have been arrested on grounds of mere suspicion.