Freedom For the Academic and Social Reformer Mohamed Matar Al-Sahli
The Together for Justice team confirmed that the continued detention of the Saudi academic, Mohamed Matar Al-Sahli Al-Harbi, without trial, compounded the severity of the crime committed against him by the Saudi authorities which arbitrarily detained him without providing legal reasons for that.
According to private sources, the Saudi security forces raided the house of Dr. Mohamed Matar last October, assaulted him, arrested him brutally, and took him to an unknown destination after handcuffing his hands and feet.
Dr. Mohamed Al-Sahli Al-Harbi is a professor at Umm Al-Qura University. He is also a social reformer. He is active on Twitter and is followed by thousands.
Until the moment, the legal position of Dr. Mohamed Al-Sahli is still unknown, as he has not been tried, nor has his family been informed of the charges raised against him, in addition to denying them the right to meet him or appoint a lawyer like the rest of the detainees in Saudi Arabia.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention should urgently intervene to pressure the Saudi regime to immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Mohamed Matar Al-Sahli Al-Harbi and all prisoners of conscience and detainees without clear charge.
We also call on the various UN bodies to form urgent committees and travel to KSA to ensure that all detainees obtain their rights.
We call on the international community to abide by human rights and the treaties and pacts they have concluded, and to ensure respect for human rights in the world, by linking any cooperation with the Saudi regime to improving the human rights situation in the country, and allowing citizens to exercise their legitimate right to freedom of expression and assembly.
