Personal information
- Sex: Male
Hatem al-Najjar is the presenter of popular podcast Muraba (Square) on the Thmanyah channel.
Arrest and jail information
- Date of arrest: 14 January 2024
Trial information
- Charges: The Thmanyah team has been targeted by the authorities. Pro-government social media accounts have been reporting its online content to State Security, inviting them to arrest and punish its creators. Muraba presenter Hatem al-Najjar was arrested in January 2024 after a campaign using the hashtag “Arrest_Hatem_Alnajjar”, and despite posting an apology to the Saudi authorities, he remains in detention.
- Court: Specialised Criminal Court (SCC)
Violations
- Arbitrary arrest/ detention ,
- Denied contact with family ,
- Observers denied access to court hearings
Timeline
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14 January 2024 - Hatem is forced into publishing a public apology in relation to tweets that were dated 10 years ago. He was arrested the same evening, and put into solitary confinement, despite his public apology.
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12 January 2024 - The podcast that Hatem al-Najjar was part of, owing to its historic success, announced the unprecedented launch of an international radio platform. Right after the announcement, the electronic flies started defaming them, and calling for their arrest, including under the hashtag #Arrest_Hatem_AlNajjar