While world powers race to strengthen ties with Saudi Arabia, ignoring the regime’s long record of repression and murder—including U.S. intelligence confirming that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi—the suffering inside the kingdom's prisons continues to expose the truth.
One of the clearest examples is the case of Sheikh Issam Al-Owaid, a prominent Saudi cleric, academic, and humanitarian who has been languishing in prison since February 2017, despite the completion of his original sentence. His case illustrates how the regime uses counterterrorism laws to silence dissenting voices under the false pretext of national security.
Al-Owaid was arbitrarily arrested on fabricated charges of “financing terrorist organizations” due to his involvement with a legal charity—the Al-Imar Relief Foundation. The real motive behind his arrest was his open support for democratic reforms and his vocal opposition to extremism, including his public denunciation of ISIS.
In December 2019, after nearly three years in pretrial detention, the Specialized Criminal Court sentenced him to four years in prison. The trial lacked any semblance of due process: it was held in secret, without a lawyer, without his family’s knowledge, and without access to case files.
Despite completing his sentence in January 2021, Al-Owaid was not released. Instead, authorities fabricated a new case against him. In October 2021, a closed re-trial began, again in secret. The outcome: a shocking 27-year prison sentence based on undisclosed charges, with no legal defense or public scrutiny.
Al-Owaid is not just a detainee. He is a scholar, a preacher, and a man with a long record of public service—both in academia and humanitarian relief. His story reflects the fate of many Saudi intellectuals and reformists who dared to speak or think independently.
At a time when global leaders are shaking hands with bin Salman and signing defence and investment deals, voices like Al-Owaid’s remain buried behind bars. This dissonance reveals the stark hypocrisy of international actors who speak of human rights while rewarding repression.Together for Justice calls on the international community, especially the UN Special Rapporteurs and human rights organisations, to pressure the Saudi authorities to release Sheikh Issam Al-Owaid and all prisoners of conscience. No reform is credible while prisons overflow with the kingdom’s brightest minds.