( CNN ) -- Dozens of women and at least five children were arrested on Saturday after demonstrations were held in two Saudi cities , Riyadh and Buraida , according to human rights activists . The women were demanding the release of relatives they say have been held for years without access to lawyers or a trial , the activists said . Mohammed Al-Qahtani , a prominent activist currently on trial in Saudi Arabia on charges that include breaking allegiance to the Saudi king , told CNN the women who were protesting are `` female relatives of political prisoners . '' `` They are asking the authorities to either take these prisoners to court , '' said Al-Qahtani , `` or set them free . '' In the capital city of Riyadh , one activist who was part of the demonstration said it was held outside a building that houses one of the country 's government-backed human rights groups . The activist , who requested anonymity for fear for her safety , said she had to quickly flee the scene to avoid arrest . About 50 women demonstrated there , and at least two of them had been arrested as police tried to disperse the crowd , she said . `` They went out there today to ask that their relatives be freed , '' said the activist . `` They have been in prison for a long time and have had no lawyer and no trial . '' According to two other activists , three of the women arrested in Riyadh were the wife and daughter and granddaughter of Suleiman al-Rashudi , a political activist who was arrested in December after giving a lecture in which he said protests were permitted in Islam . Al-Rashudi previously spent five years in detention and was found guilty last year of , among other things , financing terrorism , incitement against the king and attempting to seize power . One amateur video purportedly shot at the scene shows women , some who brought their children , chanting , `` The people call for the liberation of the prisons . '' In Buraida , the provincial capital of deeply conservative Qassim Province , activists say at least 26 women protested and were arrested outside the city 's Board of Grievances on Saturday -- the scene of a similar protest in early January . Many of the women brought their children , who they say were also arrested . One of the female protesters , Um Abdullah , spoke to CNN by phone as she was being held in a police station in Buraida . `` I demonstrated for the release of my husband , Abdulmalek Al-Muqdin , '' explained Um Abdullah , `` who has been in jail without charge for 12 years . '' According to Um Abdullah , whose son was detained alongside her , the police told her and the other women that they would be released if they signed a piece of paper that would compel them to show up at any government office if summoned to do so , but the women refused to do so . One amateur video posted online purports to show several of the women , and some of the children , in the back of a police bus after having been detained . In the video , the women express solidarity with the political prisoners in Saudi Arabia . Despite repeated efforts , CNN has been unable to reach Saudi Arabia 's Interior Ministry for comment . Protests are prohibited in Saudi Arabia . In early January , a small group of women held a demonstration in the same part of Buraida , calling for the release of detained family members . Their arrest , a short time later , caused great outrage and sparked several days of small protests in various cities . Saudi Arabia 's Interior Ministry confirmed to CNN later in the month that the women were eventually all released . When asked in late January about demonstrators ' claims that their relatives are political prisoners who should be released , Interior Ministry Spokesman Major Gen. Mansour Al-Turki told CNN that Saudi government officials would not comment on cases currently being `` looked at by the courts .
Activists report arrests of women in Saudi cities . The government has said it will not allow the public to see what happened inside the prison. Saudi officials have been reluctant to comment .