Washington D.C., Jun 8, 2004 / 22:00 pm
The Freedom House Center for Religious Freedom is calling upon the G-8 nations to issue an immediate appeal to Saudi Arabia for the release of one Christian and seven Muslim Saudi human rights activists, who have been detained for the peaceful expression of their beliefs.
In a press release June 7, Freedom House stated that it issued the appeal on behalf of Indian citizen Brian Savio O’Connor, who has been imprisoned for the past six months by the Saudi religious police.
During this time, the Catholic Indian reportedly has been whipped and tortured with electric wires and threatened with death to force him to convert to Islam.
His brothers, Raymond and James, confirmed to L’Osservatore Romano that Brian has been “tortured with the intention of obliging him to abjure his faith.” He is now being held in the Olaya prison in Riyadh.