Four years after the arrest of Alaa Brinji for expressing his opinion: Saudi Arabia remains a prison for journalists 

Publication date: 15/05/2018

Four years after the arrest of Alaa Brinji for expressing his opinion: Saudi Arabia remains a prison for journalists.

As of May 14, 2018, Saudi journalist Alaa Brinji has spent four years behind bars for expressing his opinion, advocating for human rights, and challenging rights violations.

Brinji, who used to write for Al-Bilad, Al-Sharq and Okaz newspapers, is one of Saudi Arabia’s best-known journalists.  His arrest was accompanied by several violations of his rights, including initially being held incommunicado, denied contact with the outside world, and denied access to a lawyer throughout his trial.

Brinji was brought before the Specialised Criminal Court, the infamous Saudi court that deals with terrorist cases, and charges were brought against him for expressing his opinions on social media. The charges were based on Twitter posts in which Brinji had backed the right of women in Saudi Arabia to drive, and supported human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience.

In March 2016, Brinji was sentenced to five years in prison followed by an eight-year travel ban, together with a fine.  Three months later, in June 2016, instead of quashing the charges, the judge increased his jail sentence to seven years.

The fourth anniversary of Brinji’s arrest coincides with Saudi Arabia’s ranking on the Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders slipping from 168 (out of 180 countries) last year to 169 in 2018.  As the Saudi Crown Prince trumpets what is supposed to be a new era of major reforms, with promises to promote free speech, Brinji’s continued detention calls into question the seriousness of the Crown Prince’s assertions and the likelihood of their being realised in practice, so as to give prisoners of conscience their freedom.

By continuing to detain Brinji, along with dozens of other journalists, bloggers, online activists and human rights defenders, and by failing to appoint a lawyer for him, the Saudi government is confirming its intention to maintain its policy of silencing any and all opinion by means of arbitrary arrests, flawed trials and harsh sentences.

We the undersigned call for the immediate release of Alaa Brinjii, and the dropping of the charges, which violate his right to freedom of expression.

Signed,

  • RSF Reporters Without Borders
  • ALQST
  • Alkarama Foundation
  • European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR)
  • FIDH, within the framework of the Observatory for the protection of human rights defenders
  • Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
  • World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the protection of human rights defenders
Share Article

Related Articles

Execution of Saudi child offender raises fears for others
The execution of Jalal Labbad, a Saudi youth convicted of crimes allegedly committed when he was a minor, finally destroys the authorities’ claims to have ended this violation of international human rights law.
NGOs call for immediate release of ​Saudi human rights defender Mohammed al-Bejadi, still held two years after his sentence ended
We, the undersigned organisations, express deep concern over the continued arbitrary detention of the Saudi human rights defender Mohammed al-Bejadi more than two years beyond his sentence.
Ten Nubian Egyptians still in Saudi jail five years after arbitrary arrest
Five years on from their arrest in July 2020, ten members of Nubian civic associations in Saudi Arabia remain arbitrarily detained on lengthy prison sentences for staging a peaceful commemoration of the 1973 Oc
×

Support ALQST's work defending human rights in Saudi Arabia.

Together, we can continue to push for justice, freedom, and dignity for all.