Saudi authorities strip US-Saudi doctor, torture him with electric shocks

Mangalore Today News Network

Riyadh, Mar 05, 2019 : In a hair-raising news, a US-Saudi doctor was tortured in Riyadh using electric shocks.

According to a New York Times report, Harvard-trained Walid Fitaihi was dragged by guards into a room in Ritz-Carlton hotel recently.

 

He was then tortured with electric shocks as part of a crackdown on corruption under Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

US diplomats have reportedly paid a visit to him.

54-year-old Fitaihi was among the 60 people who were detained for prosecution after the 15-month long crackdown launched by the Crown Prince.

The NYT reported that Fitaihi was blindfolded, stripped to his underwear, slapped and was bound to a chair.

He was then given electric shocks for nearly an hour.

Around 200 prominent Saudis were held captive in the Riyadh hotel.

While the reason for the detention of Fitaihi is not known officially, the NYT source said the doctor was basically asked about Adel Fakeih, a relative by marriage, who has also been detained.

Fakeih was a former aide to the Crown Prince.

Most of the detainees have been subjected to torture and abuse, with some forced to shell out hefty amounts for their release.

Fitaihi received his undergraduate degree from George Washington University and pursued Master’s in public health from Harvard. In 2006, he founded a private hospital in Jeddah after returning from the US. The NYT reported he has no record of any political-activism inside Saudi.

The White House National Security Advisor, John Bolton, in a recent interview, confirmed that US diplomats have visited Fitaihi in Saudi but he had no other information.

The news comes after US President Donald Trump was slammed for his allegiance with Saudi especially after the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was a US resident, by Saudi agents in Turkey.

Although US intelligence revealed that Khashoggi’s murder was ordered by the Crown Prince, Saudi has consistently denied it saying it was "rogue operation". Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met with the Crown Prince last week in Riyadh to bring support for a Middle East peace proposal.