Saudi Arabia dismisses sexual harassment reports

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia dismissed Friday as “baseless” reports that detained activists, including women, faced sexual harassment and torture during interrogation.

“These recent reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are baseless,” the kingdom said in a statement. The government said that it “strongly denies” the accusations that are “simply wrong”. The activists, held since May in Dhahban prison on the western Red Sea coast, have faced repeated electrocution and flogging, leaving some of them unable to stand or walk, Amnesty International said on Tuesday, citing three separate testimonies. At least one activist was made to hang from a ceiling, Amnesty added.