Washington (AsiaNews) – Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom called on US Secretary of State Colin Powell to raise with Saudi authorities the issue of Brian O'Connor in his visit to the desert kingdom this week. Mr O'Connor is a young Indian Catholic who has been repeatedly tortured during his 7-month detention in the Muslim nation.

"In seeking Middle East allies in the war on terror, the Secretary of State must not neglect to mention the terror regional governments inflict on their own citizens, especially in the realm of religious freedom," said Center director Nina Shea, who in a press release urged Colin Powell "to raise the case of O'Connor." Ms Shea went on to say: "Restrictive blasphemy laws affect both Muslims and non-Muslims, and governments routinely foment division and sectarian hatred, in addition to routinely violating universal rights of free speech, worship, and association."

Under the accusation of preaching about Jesus Christ, using drugs and selling liquor Brian O'Connor was taken into custody, tortured many times, and put under strong pressure to abjure his Christian faith. Some Christian internet sites, including AsiaNews, have launched a campaign in favour of his liberation.

Three moderate Muslim dissidents were also arrested. Professor Abdullah Al-Hamad, writer Ali Al-Deminy and Matrouk Al-Faleh were imprisoned last March because of their demands for political reforms.

According to the Saudi Institute in Washington, DC, religious persecution and repression take various forms in the Saudi kingdom. Judges must come from the fundamentalist Wahhabi sect whose views and practices are informed by a rigid reading of the Qu'ran and by anti-Western prejudices. They often charge non-Wahhabi Muslims under blasphemy laws and impose death sentences solely on the word of the accuser.

In January 2003, Hail Al-Masri, a Yemeni fruit seller living in Jeddah, was sentenced to death by decapitation for refusing his Wahhabi roommate entreaties to attend prayers. In June 2002, Ali Thafer Al-Misaad, 25, was sentenced to 8 years in prison and 2000 lashes for having said that the Qu'ran was "boring." He was however able to flee the court and has not been seen since. (ThR)