The criminal court of Dammam in Saudi Arabia yesterday sentenced “Mohammad Bojbarah”, the eulogist of the Ahl al-Bayt (A.S), to 9 months in prison.

The Dammam Criminal Court also sentenced eight other Shia youths in the region to four months in prison.

Meanwhile, legal activists say: Mohammad Bojbarah has not committed any crime and has only performed religious rites in the Arbaeen of Imam Hussain (A.S).

Mohammad Bojbarah was arrested on October 4 last year, along with eight Shia youths in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia who had organized a ceremony to mark the Arbaeen of Imam Hussain (A.S).

Observers say the arrest of the eulogist and Shia youths in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia has sectarian motives against followers of the Shia religion.

A local activist, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the arrests showed only sectarian motives against Shia Muslims pursued by the Al Saud regime.

He says: Mohammad Bojbarah and his companions have not committed any crime and have not committed any illegal act. They only performed religious rites in the Arbaeen of Imam Hussain (A.S) in the month of Safar, but the security services summoned them for interrogation and they have been in prison ever since.

According to local sources, prior to their arrest, no arrest warrant had been issued against Bojbarah and his companions, and they were arrested and sent to prison without a warrant, which is not in line with Article 3 of the Saudi Penal Code. According to the law, detention of individuals is permissible only after the conviction has been proven.

Sixteen Shia clerics are said to have been arrested by Saudi security forces so far, some of them for opposing the Yemeni war and condemning the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.