Dr. Saud Al-Hashemi’s Health in Critical Decline After 18 Years of Unjust Imprisonment
More than 18 years have passed since the arbitrary arrest of Saudi academic Dr. Saud Mokhtar Al-Hashemi, who has been serving a 30-year sentence for peacefully advocating for political reform. Today, Together for Justice issues an urgent appeal following credible reports confirming that his health has severely deteriorated and entered a life-threatening stage due to ongoing medical neglect inside Saudi prisons.
According to trusted sources, Dr. Al-Hashemi is suffering from serious cardiovascular and neurological complications, along with chronic illnesses, while being denied access to specialized medical care. He remains held in inhumane conditions that are accelerating his physical decline. His life is now in immediate danger.
Dr. Al-Hashemi was arrested on 2 February 2007, alongside eight other academics and reformists in what later became known as the “Rest House Group.” They were peacefully discussing political reform—yet the Saudi regime responded with a campaign of arbitrary detention, solitary confinement, and brutal torture.
In November 2011, after more than four years without trial, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison, along with a 30-year travel ban and a heavy fine, in a secret and politically motivated trial that violated every principle of due process. Detainees were denied access to legal counsel, blindfolded, shackled, and dragged to closed courtrooms—a theater of repression disguised as justice.
Over the years, Dr. Al-Hashemi has endured systematic abuse: prolonged solitary confinement, deliberate exposure to extreme cold, and total medical negligence—despite his history of multiple strokes, pelvic injury, and kidney failure.
This is not imprisonment. It is a slow, calculated death.
Together for Justice demands:
- The immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Saud Al-Hashemi.
- His urgent transfer to a specialized medical facility to receive life-saving care.
- International pressure on the Saudi government to end its practice of medical neglect and abuse of political prisoners.
We further call on UN bodies and international human rights institutions to launch a full investigation into his treatment and to hold Saudi authorities accountable for this slow-motion execution.
The time for silence has passed. Free Dr. Saud Al-Hashemi—before it is too late.
