A decade of violations: When will the tragedy of human rights lawyer Walid Abu Al-Khair end?
Today marks a decade in full since the Saudi human rights defender and lawyer Walid Abu Al-Khair’s arrest on April 15, 2014, after refusing to sign a pledge to stop his human rights activism. He is currently serving an unjust 15-year prison sentence following a politicised trial during which he was denied one of his most basic rights, which is a legal representation.
Walid Abu Al-Khair’s health condition inside Dhahban Prison in Jeddah reached a late stage earlier this month, according to information we received. In response, the prison administration refused to send him to the hospital so he could receive the necessary medical care, which means that Abu Al-Khair is subjected to slow death at the hands of the prison administration because of the wilful medical negligence committed against him despite the necessity of transferring him to the hospital.
On April 15, 2014, Abu Al-Khair was taken into custody while present at a court hearing on fictitious terrorism-related charges. His legal proceeding began in October 2013.
Abu Al-Khair was detained after an arrest warrant was issued by the Minister of Interior under the Anti-Terrorism Law of January 2014, according to his wife Samar Badawi, who was detained more than once for her activism.
After founding the independent human rights organization Saudi Arabia Monitor of Human Rights in 2008, Abu Al-Khair began to advocate for human rights. The Saudi government, however, forbade the human rights center from being registered and took down its official website, forcing Abu Al-Khair to start a Facebook page with thousands of followers.
During the 2011 pro-democracy protests in the MENA region, Abu Al-Khair re-emerged defending human rights activists and political detainees in Saudi jails.
He has faced many charges that included, among other things, “breaking allegiance to and disobeying the ruler”, “disrespecting the authorities”, “offending the judiciary”, “inciting international organisations against the Kingdom” and “founding an unlicensed organisation”.
On October 29, 2013, the criminal court in Jeddah sentenced him to three months in prison on similar charges related to ridiculing or offending the Saudi Arabian judiciary.
In June 2014, the Specialized Criminal Court of Appeal in Riyadh confirmed a sentence of fifteen years in prison, a travel ban, and a fine of SR 200.00,- (roughly EUR 47.000,-).
Well-informed sources earlier confirmed that the lawyer and human rights activist Walid Abu Al-Khair’s life is in danger after he was brutally beaten by a group of criminal prisoners in Al-Saadiya prison in presence of a Saudi prison official.
According to the sources, the prison officer incited the prisoners to assault, provoke, and beat Abu al-Khair. Following the attack, Abu al-Khair was transferred to solitary confinement despite his serious health condition.
