Imprisonments Nine lawyers, academics and other people, including Dr
Saud al-Hashimi and Dr
Suliman al-Reshoudi, were arrested in February 2007 after trying to set up a
human rights organization and starting a petition for political reform. Seven others were arrested for being linked to al-Hashimi. On 22 November 2011, the 16 were convicted in the Specialized Criminal Court of "forming a secret organization, attempting to seize power, incitement against the King, financing terrorism, and money laundering" and given sentences of 5–30 years, to be followed by travel bans. The men appealed their convictions on 22 January 2012.
Amnesty International judged the trials to be "grossly unfair", said that there were "allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in pre-trial detention", and that "at least some of those sentenced are
prisoners of conscience".
Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) co-founder
Mohammed Saleh al-Bejadi, arrested on 21 March 2011, appeared in the Specialized Criminal Court in August 2011 for "insurrection against the ruler, instigating demonstrations, and speaking with foreign [media] channels." Judge al-'Abd al-Latif prevented al-Bejadi's defence lawyers from attending the August trial session. Mubarak Zu'air, a lawyer supporting long-term prisoners, was arrested on 20 March 2011, a day after an interview on the topic with
Minister of Interior,
Nayef, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. His first court appearance following the arrest was on 22 December 2011 in the Specialized Criminal Court, on charges of "encumbering the affairs of the ruler, not complying with rules and regulations, attending an unlicensed gathering, spreading sedition, and not obeying religious scholars". He was given no prior notice of the court hearing, so his defence lawyers were unable to attend the session.
Khaled al-Johani, a teacher of religious instruction in Riyadh was imprisoned, without a trial, for nearly one year at
ʽUlaysha Prison for having publicly asked for freedoms and democracy in Saudi Arabia on the 11 March 2011 "Day of Rage" during the
2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests. He made a public statement to a
BBC Arabic Television team on a street in Riyadh in the presence of security forces. On 22 February 2012 he was charged in the Specialized Criminal Court with "support of demonstrations, presence at the location of a demonstration, and communications with the foreign media in a manner that harmed the reputation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." A trial date was set for April 2012. Al-Johani is an Amnesty International
prisoner of conscience .
Death penalties Ali al-Nimr, who as a
teenager participated in the
Saudi Arabian protests, was arrested in 2012 after being hit and injured by a police car. He was tried and sentenced to death and appealed to the Specialized Criminal Court in 2014 and 2015. , he awaited ratification of his sentence by King
Salman of Saudi Arabia, to be carried out by
crucifixion and
beheading. Al-Nimr's trial was called
unfair by United Nations expert
Christof Heyns and
Amnesty International, who called for the execution to be stopped, as did French President
François Hollande and Prime Minister
Manuel Valls. In October 2015, the Specialized Criminal Court sentenced Dawoud al-Marhoon, who had been arrested as a 17-year-old in May 2012 during protests in the
Eastern Province, to death by
beheading. Al-Marhoon was tortured during his detention and was convicted on the basis of a
forced confession.
Nimr al-Nimr, Ali al-Nimr's uncle, was sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Court and
executed on 2 January 2016 together with forty-four other Saudis, an Egyptian and a Chadian. ==See also==