Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights

Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights

 Arabic Lajnat al-Difa' 'an al-Huquq al-Shar'iyyah

Sunnite Muslim group opposed to the ruling Saud dynasty in Saudi Arabia. The group was founded in 1992 and consists largely of academics and lower-level Muslim clergy. It considers itself a pressure group for peaceful reform and for improving human rights in Saudi Arabia but also agitates against what it perceives as the political corruption of the Saudi government and ruling family. Its leader is a former physics professor, Muhammad ibn al-Masa'ari. In 1994, after experiencing government repression, the group moved its headquarters to London. Despite its claim to advocate peaceful change, the group has been accused of aiding Islamic militants seeking to overthrow the Saudi government.