Ali Al-Domaini was a well-known poet and writer from Saudi Arabia. As a political activist, he campaigned for a move to constitutional monarchy and democracy in the kingdom. Al-Domaini was detained along with 11 other leading Saudi intellectuals for criticizing the National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) and for planning to set up their own human rights organization. On April 4, 2005, Al-Domaini received the 2005 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. On August 8, 2005, newly crowned King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia issued a royal pardon to Ali Al-Domaini and his two co-defendants and ordered their immediate release from prison. Al-Domaini passed away at the age of 74 as a result of a terminal illness on April 25, 2022.
Case BACKGROUND
Case Updates
April 25, 2022: Al-Domaini passes away at the age of 74 as a result of a terminal illness.
October 2017: Al-Domaini and his rich contribution to modern poetry and literature are celebrated by a Saudi poetry festival which is now named after him.
August 31, 2011: Al-Domaini’s poems are translated into English and published as a section of the book Gathering the Tide: An Anthology of Contemporary Arabian Gulf Poetry by Apollo Books.
2008: Al-Domaini publishes his new book of poems As We Open the Door.
August 8, 2005: Al-Domaini and his co-defendants are pardoned by newly crowned King Abdullah.
May 15, 2005: Al-Domaini is sentenced to 9 years in prison for disseminating news.
April 4, 2005: Al-Domaini is honored by PEN America as a recipient of 2005 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards.
August 9, 2004: The trial against Al-Domaini and two other defendants starts.
March 15, 2004: Al-Domaini is arrested alongside 11 other intellectuals.