Four Years After His Sentence Ended, Saudi Academic and Poet Habib bin Ma’ala Remains Unlawfully Detained
Although the prison sentence issued by the Saudi judiciary against poet and academic Habib bin Ma’ala Al-Mutairi was supposed to end in March 2021, the authorities continue to detain him without any legal justification and without providing his family or human rights organizations with any information regarding his current legal status or the conditions of his detention. This prolonged silence reflects a pattern in which the Saudi regime disregards even the rulings of its own politicized courts when it wishes to prolong punishment against peaceful critics.
Habib bin Ma’ala, a respected poet and professor of literary criticism at the College of Arabic Language at Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University, was arrested during the September 2017 crackdown that swept up dozens of writers, thinkers, academics, and reform advocates. Security forces raided his home without a judicial warrant, confiscated his books and electronic devices, and transferred him to Al-Ha’ir Prison, where he was held in solitary confinement for months and denied any contact with his family or access to legal representation.
Without notifying his relatives, he was brought before the Specialized Criminal Court, which conducted several hearings that failed to meet the minimum standards of due process. No credible evidence was presented, yet the court sentenced him to three and a half years in prison. That sentence ended completely in March 2021—more than four years ago—yet the authorities have refused to release him and have offered no explanation for his continued detention. There is no indication that a new case has been opened; instead, his prolonged imprisonment appears to be a punitive measure beyond the bounds of law.
As with many prisoners of conscience in the kingdom, Dr. Habib is subjected to harsh conditions of detention that violate international standards. Reports indicate poor hygiene, ill-treatment, and severe restrictions on communication with the outside world. The fact that he remains behind bars long after completing his sentence demonstrates that his imprisonment was never about law or justice, but rather an effort to silence a respected intellectual and punish him for his ideas and public role.
Together for Justice reiterates its call on the United Nations, international human rights bodies, and all advocates of liberty worldwide to intensify pressure on the Saudi authorities to release all prisoners of conscience and political detainees. The organization emphasizes that these arrests were unlawful from the outset and that the subsequent trials were mere political performances devoid of fairness. Today, the authorities are not only disregarding basic due process but even defying their own court rulings by continuing to hold detainees long after their sentences have expired.
The continued detention of Habib bin Ma’ala is a stark reminder of the systematic repression faced by writers, academics, and reform advocates in Saudi Arabia—a repression that persists because the world continues to look away.
