A post claiming that 850 Indian Muslim prisoners were released from Saudi jails before Ramadan 2024 at the request of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is widely circulating on social media platforms. This article aims to fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Before Ramadan 2024, 850 Indian Muslim prisoners were released from Saudi Arabian jails at the request of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Fact: According to reports, 850 Indian prisoners were released from Saudi Arabian jails in the year 2019. The UAE is set to release 2,592 prisoners from its jails ahead of Ramadan 2024, as reported. There have been numerous instances in the past of releasing prisoners before Ramadan in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. Saudi Arabia has released Indian prisoners even before 2014 at the request of the Indian government. According to data provided by the government of India in the Rajya Sabha in the year 2005, a total of 2,434 Indian prisoners were released from Saudi jails during the years 1999-2004 at the request of the Indian government. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
To verify the authenticity of the viral claim, we conducted a relevant keyword search, leading us to a report published by Al Jazeera on their website on 21 February 2019. According to this news report, the Ministry of External Affairs of India stated that during the visit of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), to New Delhi on 20 February 2019, following the request of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Saudi Arabia was set to release 850 Indian prisoners from its jails. Additional news reports regarding this can be seen here & here.
Subsequently, we also found a tweet by India’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson on 19 February 2019, which reads: ‘At the request of PM @narendramodi, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has ordered the release of 850 Indian prisoners lodged in Saudi jails.‘ Based on this information, it is evident that Saudi Arabia released 850 Indian prisoners in the year 2019, not in the current year 2024.
To know more information about whether Saudi Arabia or any other Gulf nations released Indian prisoners before the year 2014 at the request of the Indian government, we checked government data. We found a Rajya Sabha question answered on 22 December 2005, by the minister of state in the ministry of external affairs, E. Ahamed. In the reply, the government stated that during the years 1999-2004, a significant number of Indian prisoners were granted a Royal pardon in Saudi Arabia. The numbers for each year are as follows: 535 in 1999-2000, 359 in 2000, 563 in 2001, 585 in 2002, and 392 in 2003-04. These releases were often on humanitarian grounds, and in cases of payment of blood money, the Indian Mission submitted Mercy Petitions for the release of detainees when poverty was proven. Additionally, for Indian citizens who had been awarded the death sentence, the Mission approached Saudi authorities at the highest level with Mercy Petitions for their release or a lesser punishment.
During this search, we also found that there have been numerous past instances of releasing prisoners before Ramadan, in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. News reports regarding such releases of prisoners in the past can be seen here, here, here, and here.
According to news reports (here & here), in the year 2023, UAE leaders pardoned 3,400 prisoners ahead of Ramadan on the occasion of the 52nd National Day. UAE is set to release 2592 prisoners from its jails ahead of Ramadan 2024.
To sum it up, an old incident of releasing 850 Indian prisoners in Saudi Arabia in the year 2019 is being shared as a recent one. Saudi Arabia has released Indian prisoners even before 2014 at the request of the Indian government.
