US-based human rights group urges Saudi Arabia to release prisoners who have served sentences

HRW: Saudi should free prisoners who ended terms

CAIRO — An international human rights group has called on state prosecutors in Saudi Arabia to ensure that prison authorities release all inmates who have served out their sentences.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch says at least four prisoners in al-Hair prison south of Riyadh are still in custody a month to three months after having completed their sentences.

The group said in a statement released Thursday that the men from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Pakistan had complained the judge in their case did not give them a written verdict, but informed them orally of its content.

The prosecutor’s office in Saudi Arabia is supposed to monitor prisons to ensure that inmates are released once their sentence is up.