Breaking the Silence - Saudi Arabia

First broadcast June 2005

Saudi Arabia is crucial to world stability. But after a series of terrorist attacks last year, the Kingdom is experiencing seismic shifts in its established structures.

To get under the skin of this vast country, presenter Bill Law meets people who are determined to break the silence and speak openly for the first time about their hopes and fears.

Part 2: Constitutional Change

The story of two people who put themselves up for election in Saudi Arabia earlier this year (the first nationwide elections in the country's history): Dr Hussein al Bar, a businessman who was virtually guaranteed victory as soon as he entered the race, and Nadia Bakhurji, a woman who was told she couldn't run in the election.

Fawzia is the wife of a man who has been in a Riyadh jail for more than a year because he called for constitutional reform and 'M' is a Shia in the oil-rich Eastern Province who speaks as openly as he dares about the discrimination his sect faces.

Hamza al Mozainy is a Professor at King Saud University in Riyadh. In March this year he was sentenced to 200 lashes and four months in prison. His crime was to criticise the powerful extremist element in place in the Saudi education system.

Reporter Bill Law criss-crossed the country talking to Saudis from all walks of life: "These are just three of the remarkable people who are breaking the silence, challenging extremism, calling for transition in a country that is ready for change but only if it comes from within," he says.

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