Saudi Arabia: 5 Years On, Activist Still Behind Bars | Human Rights Watch
“Stifling peaceful dissent with outrageous sentences has shown the Saudi government’s lack of commitment to serious political and civil reform,” said
Michael Page , deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “A serious reform campaign, no matter how Saudi-funded public relations propagandists spin it, doesn’t entail locking up human rights defenders for 15 years for courageously speaking up.”
Abu al-Khair’s trial before the Specialized Criminal Court opened in October 2013. Following his fifth trial session on April 15, 2014, the
interior minister issued a detention order , and Abu al-Khair has remained in detention since then. He is in al-Dhahban prison, north of Jeddah.
In its July 2014 decision, the court found Abu al-Khair
guilty on six charges : “seeking to remove legitimate authority;” “harming public order in the state and its officials;” “inflaming public opinion and disparaging and insulting judicial authority;” “publicly slandering the judiciary, distorting the kingdom’s reputation, making international organizations hostile to the kingdom, and issuing unverified statements that harm the kingdom’s reputation and incite against it and alienate it;” “founding an unlicensed organization;” and violating Saudi Arabia’s anti-cybercrime law.
In recognition of his human rights work, Abu al-Khair received
several prestigious awards , including the Law Society of Upper Canada’s 2016 Human Rights Award, the Olof Palme Prize in 2012, and the Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights Prize in 2015.
Other peaceful Saudi dissidents serving harsh sentences solely for their human rights work and who should be immediately released include:
Loujain al-Hathloul ,
Nouf Abdelaziz ,
Mayaa al-Zahrani ,
Hatoon al-Fassi ,
Samar Badawi ,
Nassema al-Sadah ,
Abdulaziz al-Shubaily ,
Mohammed al-Qahtani ,
Abdullah al-Hamid ,
Fadhil al-Manasif ,
Abdulkareem al-Khodr ,
Fowzan al-Harbi ,
Raif Badawi ,
Saleh al-Ashwan ,
Abdulrahman al-Hamid ,
Zuhair Kutbi ,
Alaa Brinji ,
Nadhir al-Majed ,
Issa al-Nukheifi ,
Essam Koshak ,
Mohammad al-Otaibi ,
Abdullah al-Attawi , and
Fahad al-Fahad .
“Saudi leaders should praise Walid Abu al-Khair for his commitment to defending fellow citizens’ rights,” Page said. “Every day Abu al-Khair remains behind bars, is a reminder that Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman’s ‘reform’ plan is meaningless.”