Perth mother pleads for Saudi release of sons

Perth mother pleads for Saudi release of sons

Posted May 02, 2013 20:15:00

One son has been detained for 18 months over alleged terrorist links and the other is in hiding after being jailed for protesting his brother's imprisonment, while their mother is pleading for the Australian Government to help get them back to Perth.

Source: 7.30 | Duration: 6min 34sec

Topics: foreign-affairs, terrorism, saudi-arabia, perth-6000


LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: The mother of two young men held against their will in Saudi Arabia is making a heartfelt plea to the Australian Government to secure their release.

One of the men is being detained in a notorious prison after Saudi police allegedly found links to a terrorist organisation on a laptop in his room.

His younger brother is in hiding.

Bronwyn Herbert reports that the Australian Government says it's trying to ensure the pair receives due process.

BRONWYN HERBERT, REPORTER: It's more than a year since this mum last saw her sons and she holds tight any precious memories she can find.

Shayden Jamil and Junaid Muhammed Thorne were born in Perth to a Malaysian Muslim mother and an Aboriginal father. They had a happy childhood in WA and in Tasmania and hold Australian passports.

They moved to Saudi Arabia in 1996 while in primary school, following their stepfather's career.

MOTHER: He's normal everyday kid. Like, he just loved playing, loved, yeah, doing all those kind of thing that boys do.

BRONWYN HERBERT: And was he a good son to you?

MOTHER: Yes, yes. He's, um - yeah, he's my go-to person.

BRONWYN HERBERT: But this 43-year-old mother and her daughters are scared they'll never see the boys again. 25-year-old Shayden was arrested in November, 2011 after police raided a room he had been living in at a Riyadh mosque. Since then he's been held in a notorious Al-Ha'ir Prison, accused of terror offences.

MOTHER: They're saying that he had, like, Islamic videos on it, and, yes, things that are not allowed. But that wasn't his laptop and he only borrowed that. Other people had access to that. I know from the documents that they said they found on him a certain amount of cash, like 10,000 Saudi riyals, which is equivalent to about AU$350. And they're saying that he was using it to fund terrorism, so what you can do?

BRONWYN HERBERT: Last night she received this letter from her son's lawyer. It details Shayden's claims he's been tortured and abused while in detention for the past 18 months.

MOTHER: Through the court documents, his affidavit to the lawyer., he stated in there the ways that they tortured him. And they tied his ankles, his wrists behind his back, they hit him in his private areas till he fainted. This tying up and slapping around and things went on for weeks on end. Yeah, he's never ever told me that.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Saudi authorities have seized the passport of younger brother Junaid Thorne, who was in his last semester of a Finance degree.

JUNAID THORNE: I am very, very afraid for my safety, because I've been detained before and I know how bad the situation can be and how slow the wheel of justice moves here.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Yesterday he dressed in disguise to visit the Australian embassy, but says his attempts to get an emergency passport were rejected. He feels the embassy has let the Thorne family down.

JUNAID THORNE: My brother was tortured, and when I complained to - when I told the embassy about that, all they could do was send a letter to the Minister of Interior and visit him after a few months when all - I mean, all evidence of torture would have vanished by then. ... I have no intention of turning myself in 'cause, you know, I just dread that moment. I don't know what they will do to me when - actually by talking to you now, by going public, they would consider this as another crime, a felony and I know that I could be into serious trouble doing this. So, God protect (inaudible). I don't know what to think.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Their mother, who doesn't want to be identified, is adamant her sons aren't terrorists. She says embassy staff in Riyadh took three months to check on the welfare of Shayden and admitted they had visited the wrong prison.

MOTHER: I feel that the Australian Government is not doing enough, and I'm not saying they're not doing anything, but I just feel that they're not doing enough. If the Americans could get their man out of that prison and the British could do it, why can't we?

BRONWYN HERBERT: The Foreign Minister Bob Carr says Australia has made more than 50 representations on behalf of Shayden Thorne.

BOB CARR, FOREIGN MINISTER: He's been visited on six occasions in prison by Australian embassy personnel. They've attended his three court hearings. This is a very high level of representation. I understand completely the distress of his mother. What mother wouldn't be distressed by a son in prison in Saudi Arabia and another son with his passport seized in Saudi Arabia? But we're not in a position to determine who's right or who's wrong. We can't run a trial. We can't mount their defence for them.

BRONWYN HERBERT: 7.30 has contacted the embassy of Saudi Arabia, but representatives haven't returned calls.

A former Australian diplomat to the Middle East says the Saudi judges will rely on interpretations from the Koran to make this judgment.

ANTHONY BILLINGLSEY, FORMER AUSTRALIAN DIPLOMAT: We're talking about a very decentralised, uncodified legal system. They don't rely on precedent. So they don't look at what judgments were made in the past, although they may be influenced by it, especially their own judgments. So of course there's a danger that we'll have inconsistencies and injustices.

BRONWYN HERBERT: For this mother, it's been an emotional ride and she's now making a public plea to do anything to get both her boys back home.

MOTHER: I feel hopeful because it's better than just, like, sitting here and waiting, which is what I've been doing. At least now I'm actively doing something. So, yeah, that's giving me hope.

LEIGH SALES: Bronwyn Herbert there.