Miteb Al-Awad
HAIL — As part of efforts to root out extremism and terrorism from Saudi society, a delegation of Hail University students visited Riyadh's Hayer Prison, where they were given a chance to meet with inmates who were detained on terrorism charges.
“My country transforms prisons into universities to rehabilitate and train the inmates, not to punish them,” said one of the students, giving a different perception of the Kingdom's approach to prisoners, who are generally ignored by the community.
The prison started receiving student delegations from Saudi universities to give them any idea about the facilities and arrangements inside Saudi prisons that receive militants accused of terrorism.
Prison officials received the delegation, which also included staff members of Prince Muhammad Bin Naif Chair for Security Research, and briefed them on the facilities at the five central prisons across the country and the mechanisms followed to deal with terror suspects.
The students observed various services being received by the detainees including government services to complete civil status procedures and Foreign Ministry services. “The detainees have all their requirements processed quickly,” said a prison official. A special building has been allocated for the detainees to meet with their relatives on specific days. The prison also has a 50-bed hospital to provide various health services to the inmates.
The department allowed the students to meet some detainees and see the services available inside their cells.
Dr. Khalil Al-Ibrahim, president of Hail University, commended the “high quality” services being extended by Hayer Prison to the inmates.
He also noted the Interior Ministry’s efforts to fight extremism. “I would like to express my appreciation for the efforts being made by the General Intelligence Department in dealing with individuals detained on terrorism charges. It also reflects the government’s efforts to deal with extremism and fight it intellectually,” Al-Ibrahim told Okaz/Saudi Gazette.
The president said Hail University had opened a special department for intellectual security as part of its social responsibility. The department is supervised by a team of experts.
“The move aims to root out extremism and it symbolizes the vision of Prince Naif Bin Abdulaziz that ideology should be fought with ideology,” he said.
The department has started a working program last year. “We have visited a number of secondary and intermediate schools as part of the program, which also addresses students of our university,” Al-Ibrahim explained.
“We have been holding discussions with young men and women during which experts answered their questions on deviant thoughts and ideologies,” he said.
