Together for Justice renews its urgent appeals to the international community to intervene immediately to save the elderly detainee Aisha Al-Muhajri, who has remained imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for nearly five years under harsh and inhumane conditions. Her detention stems solely from peaceful religious activity, namely hosting Quran memorization classes in her home.
Aisha Al-Muhajri is now approximately 70 years old and continues to be held without any clear legal basis, deprived of her freedom and of her most basic rights as a woman and as an elderly person. To date, Saudi authorities have failed to officially disclose the true reasons for her arrest. Her children have reportedly been threatened with arrest should they attempt to inquire about her whereabouts or demand information regarding her legal file or detention status.
The arrest dates back to February 2021, when Saudi security forces raided Aisha Al-Muhajri’s home in Mecca and arrested her, transferring her to Dhahban Prison. From the moment of her arrest, she was denied access to a lawyer and was not informed—nor was her family—of any legal grounds justifying her detention. Authorities have also refused to allow her family regular communication or visits, in direct violation of Saudi domestic laws themselves.
According to informed sources, Aisha Al-Muhajri was detained for organizing Quran memorization lessons in her home without an official license. Despite the entirely peaceful nature of this activity, no transparent legal action has been taken in her case. She has not been brought before a competent court, nor have she or her family been allowed to pursue established legal procedures to challenge her detention or seek her release. This renders her continued detention a fully constituted case of arbitrary detention.
The treatment inflicted upon Aisha Al-Muhajri constitutes a grave violation of her human dignity. She is held in poor detention conditions, cut off from her family, who themselves live under constant threat. She has been stripped of all fundamental legal rights. In addition, she has been subjected to systematic defamation campaigns on social media, orchestrated by electronic networks linked to the authorities, aimed at damaging her reputation—a recurring tactic used against prisoners of conscience and anyone perceived as operating outside the boundaries imposed by the state.
Aisha Al-Muhajri’s arrest was unlawful from its outset. The continuation of her detention under such harsh conditions, coupled with the ongoing violations of her human and legal rights, poses a serious and immediate threat to her life—particularly given her advanced age, which requires specialized healthcare and humane living conditions that are not available in Saudi prisons.
Together for Justice calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Aisha Al-Muhajri, the protection of her physical and psychological well-being, and her safe return to her family without delay. The organization also demands the release of all elderly detainees, whose continued imprisonment in Saudi Arabia’s notorious prisons constitutes a grave danger to their lives. Saudi authorities must be held fully responsible for any harm that may befall them as a result of these practices.