Publication date: 10/11/2021

ALQST has learned through private channels that the Saudi authorities are putting Abdulrahman al-Dowaish, son of the missing preacher Sulaiman al-Dowaish, on trial. Sulaiman al-Dowaish was arrested and forcibly disappeared by the authorities in 2016, and his fate and whereabouts remain unknown. Abdulrahman has been detained since 18 October 2021 for contacting the Public Prosecutor’s Office to ask where his father was.

Earlier, in August 2021, the authorities had re-arrested Abdulrahman’s brother, Abdulwahhab al-Dowaish, who was first arrested back in 2017 because of a dispute with an official at the Interior Ministry over what had happened to his father. According to the information ALQST has received, Abdulrahman al-Dowaish (b. 2001) is being tried behind closed doors without his family’s knowledge, and without his lawyer present.

ALQST condemns the illegal measures taken by the Saudi authorities and the enforced disappearance of detainees. It also calls urgently for all charges against Abdulrahman al-Dowaish to be dropped and for his immediate release.

Share Article
Saudi cartoonist jailed for 23 years for caricatures and non-existent tweets
After a secret retrial, the Specialised Criminal Appeal Court in Saudi Arabia has resentenced political cartoonist Al Hazzaa – full name Mohammed Ahmad Eid Al Hazzaa al-Ghamdi – to 23 years in prison.
Saudi authorities must end misuse of administrative and judicial measures against released human rights defenders including Loujain al-Hathloul
We, the undersigned organisations, call on the Saudi authorities to immediately cease misusing administrative and judicial measures against human rights defenders (HRDs) released from prison.
Over 200 executions in nine months: NGOs condemn escalating use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia
The undersigned organisations are horrified by the soaring number of executions in Saudi Arabia. According to data from the Saudi Press Agency, the authorities have executed at least 200 individuals in 2024.