Five Years of Detention for Wikipedia Editor Osama Khalid: Punished for Resisting the Saudi Regime’s Narrative
Together for Justice highlights the case of Saudi programmer and Wikipedia editor Osama Khalid, who has now spent five years behind bars simply for refusing to manipulate knowledge in favor of the Saudi regime’s narrative.
Khalid was arrested in September 2020 during a wider crackdown on activists, academics, and independent voices. His only “crime” was editing Wikipedia articles with integrity, presenting facts about political and human rights issues in Saudi Arabia without bending to state propaganda.
Initially sentenced to five years in prison, his punishment was shockingly escalated by the Court of Appeals to an unprecedented 37-year sentence. This harsh ruling underscores the regime’s determination to control not only the public sphere but also digital spaces where free knowledge is shared.
Investigations by Wikimedia Foundation, alongside rights groups such as DAWN and SMEX, revealed that the Saudi government had infiltrated Wikipedia by pressuring local editors to act as agents of the state. Those who refused to cooperate, including Osama Khalid, were detained and silenced. His case exemplifies how the regime treats truth-telling as a threat to “national security.”
The continued imprisonment of Osama Khalid is a blatant violation of international human rights law, including the right to freedom of expression and access to information. His ordeal is not only an attack on one individual but on the principle of free knowledge itself.
Together for Justice calls for:
- The immediate and unconditional release of Osama Khalid.
- An end to the criminalization of peaceful digital activity.
- Independent international investigations into Saudi infiltration of Wikipedia.
- Accountability for the use of courts as tools of political repression.
Five years on, Osama Khalid remains behind bars not for violence or crime, but because he chose facts over propaganda, and integrity over submission.
