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Inside the luxury jail for Saudi Arabia’s richest prisoners

By Nick Pearson


The Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh. (Ritz-Carlton)

The first journalist allowed inside the luxurious Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, since it became an opulent detention centre for the nation’s elite has described it as a “gilded prison”.

The hotel includes a bowling alley, ballrooms, massive indoor pools, and hundreds of businessmen, billionaires and royals awaiting trial.

That list includes at least 11 princes, two who are nephews of the king.

“Since November 4 it’s been transformed into a gilded prison,” the BBC’s Lyse Doucet said.

“As far as detention centres go, this one is beyond compare.

“Luxury swimming pool, restaurants, a gym, everything is glittering.”

A lobby in the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh. (Ritz-Carlton)

The hotel has played host to many foreign dignitaries, with US President Donald Trump staying there in May.

The accused criminals brought to the Ritz-Carlton were initially furious at being detained, but have come to accept their fate, the BBC reports.

“Now presented with what is said to be substantial evidence against them, almost everyone here, 95 percent I was told, are willing to make a deal,” Doucet said.

The arrests have been welcomed by a majority of Saudis, with the country calling for a crackdown on corruption.

© Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2017

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