Saudi Arabia bans public protest - The Guardian

Public protests have been banned in Saudi Arabia following demonstrations by minority Shia groups.

The ruling comes after widespread demonstrations in the Middle East – including those that led to the downfall of regimes in Egypt and Tunisia – and two weeks of Shia agitation in Saudi Arabia itself, during which 22 people were arrested.

A statement issued by the country's council of senior clerics said: "The council ... affirms that demonstrations are forbidden in this country. The correct way in sharia [law] of realising common interest is by advising, which is what the Prophet Muhammad established.

"Reform and advice should not be via demonstrations and ways that provoke strife and division, this is what the religious scholars of this country in the past and now have forbidden and warned against."

The statement goes on to make clear the council's stance against political parties, which are banned as they are deemed to be not in keeping with Islam.

The council's position on elections to bodies such as the advisory Shura Council has been more ambiguous.

More than 17,000 people backed a call on Facebook to hold two demonstrations in Saudi Arabia this month, the first of which went ahead on Friday.

Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and home to its two holiest sites, applies sharia law and allows religious scholars wide powers in society. They dominate the judicial system and run their own police squad to enforce religious morals.

Many clerics campaigned for an elected parliament after the Gulf War in 1991 and more recently a loose alliance of liberals, moderate Islamists and Shias have petitioned King Abdullah to allow elections in the country, which has no elected parliament.

Last month, Abdullah returned to Riyadh after a three-month medical absence and announced $37bn in benefits for citizens in a bid to curb dissent.