Publication date: 21/07/2020

ALQST has learned that in late April the Saudi authorities carried out a spate of arrests of journalists and intellectuals for expressing sympathy over the death of reformer and rights activist Abdullah al-Hamid. Those arrested include journalist Aql al-Bahili, writer Abdulaziz al-Dukhail and activist Sultan al-Ajmi, according to ALQST’s sources.
 
Al-Bahili, al-Dukhail and al-Ajmi expressed sorrow over the demise of the reformer Abdullah al-Hamid, who died after his health deteriorated as a result of deliberate medical neglect by the Saudi authorities, who refused to let him have the operations doctors told him that he needed. They did nothing at all until al-Hamid collapsed in his prison cell on 9 April, and then waited four hours before moving him to hospital, as a consequence of which he went into a coma and died on 23 April without any life-saving operation.
 
Just two days later, after posting a tweet of condolence which he later deleted, al-Bahili was arrested and taken to Al Ha’ir Prison in Riyadh, without any official charge and without being granted access to a lawyer. ALQST does not yet have any further information about al-Dukhail and al-Ajmi’s status or whereabouts, or about others.

Share Article
Saudi crackdown on free speech turns farcical, with Salma al-Shehab resentenced yet again and other women jailed for up to 40 years
In a farcical turn of events in Saudi Arabia’s Specialised Criminal Court (SCC), women’s rights activist Salma al-Shehab was resentenced on 25 January 2023 to 27 years in prison.
Death sentences upheld for three men who resisted Neom project
On 23 January, Saudi Arabia’s Specialised Criminal Court of Appeal upheld death sentences against three members of the Huwaitat tribe, Shadli, Ibrahim and Ataullah al-Huwaiti.
Drugs-related executions make sudden comeback in Saudi Arabia despite claims of a moratorium
Executions for drugs-related offences have made a dramatic comeback in Saudi Arabia this month, despite the announcement in January 2021 of a moratorium on use of the death penalty for such non-violent crimes.