JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi authorities detained a Shi'ite cleric in the Eastern Province after he called for a constitutional monarchy and an end to corruption and discrimination, human rights activists said on Tuesday.
Tawfiq al-Amir, who has been detained before for speaking out about religious freedom, made his call in a Friday sermon in the eastern town of Hafouf. Security police detained him on Sunday, said Mohammad Gabran, a local rights activist.
"Previously his sole care was religious freedoms but in his last sermon he changed his direction and started demanding a constitutional monarchy," Gabran said.
"He called me when they came to take him. They informed him they were state security and they came to take him."
