Case History
Waleed Abu Al-Khair is a Saudi Arabian lawyer, human rights activist, and founding member of the Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia (MHRSA). The author of numerous articles, he is the recipient of the 2012 Olof Palme Prize. His clients included the blogger Raif Badawi.
Case HISTORY
November 9, 2020: Human Rights Watch calls on G20 leaders to pressure Saudi Arabia to release all those illegally detained, including Waleed Abu Al-Khair by name. The organization launches its #G20SaudiArabia campaign.
February 6, 2020: Al-Khair ends his hunger strike after nearly two months.
January 9, 2020: Al-Khair is transferred to a hospital following a deterioration in his health while on hunger strike over ill treatment in prison.
November 29, 2019: Three days after being moved to solitary confinement and held incommunicado, Al-Khair begins a hunger strike in protest of his ill treatment.
June 12, 2016: Al-Khair ends his hunger strike after five days. According to reports, he ended his hunger strike after authorities agreed to meet some of his demands, including allowing him access to hospital care and pledging to give him access to both the prison library every day and the ability to take books into his cell.
June 7, 2016: Al-Khair requires medical attention and a special diet, given that he suffers from diabetes and intestinal complications; however the prison authorities have refused to give him the care he needs. The authorities refuse his request for medical tests, prevent him from ordering the foods that are best suited for his medical condition, and deprive him of visitations and reading materials. To protest against his continuous mistreatment and the prison authorities’ refusal to provide him with the medical care he needs, Al-Khair begins a hunger strike in the Jeddah prison where he is held.
September 2015: The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention finds Al-Khair’s detention arbitrary.
February 15, 2015: His full 15-year sentence was upheld by an appeals court, overturning the earlier ruling’s 5-year suspension.
July 6, 2014: Al-Khair is fined, sentenced to 15 years in prison, five years of which is suspended, along with a 15-year ban on travel abroad following the completion of the sentence.
October 2013: Al-Khair is sentenced to three months in prison on charges including “insulting the judiciary” and “attempting to distort the reputation of the kingdom.”
IN THEIR WORDS
Saudi Arabia is stifling dissent in the name of counter-terrorism
Sentenced in Saudi Arabia for peaceful activism