Together for Justice recalls the case of young Saudi detainee Khaled Al-Shahri, who has been held since March 2020 over video clips in which he expressed his views and criticized corruption and social wrongs. His case reflects the continued criminalization of peaceful expression in Saudi Arabia, where religious, social, and moral commentary can be treated as grounds for arrest and disappearance.
More than six years after his arrest, information about Al-Shahri remains extremely limited. Saudi authorities have not clearly disclosed his place of detention, health condition, legal status, the charges against him, or whether he has been brought before a fair and public trial. This prolonged lack of transparency raises serious concerns about his safety and detention conditions.
According to available information, Al-Shahri was arrested after publishing awareness videos during the Covid-19 pandemic, in which he addressed the crisis from a religious and social perspective and linked it to the spread of corruption and moral decline. Regardless of whether one agrees with the content of his speech, expressing a religious or social opinion must not lead to detention, disappearance, or denial of basic legal rights.
The seriousness of Al-Shahri’s case lies not only in his arrest, but in the years of silence that followed. If Saudi authorities have genuine legal charges against him, they must disclose them publicly, grant him access to legal counsel, and bring him before a fair and transparent court. Keeping him in detention for years without clear information violates his right to liberty, security of person, and due process.
Together for Justice stresses that arresting someone over opinion videos, even if critical or controversial, shows how wide the scope of repression has become in Saudi Arabia. The authorities are not only targeting political activists, journalists, and human rights defenders; they are also targeting individuals who speak independently on religious, social, or public matters outside the official line.
Al-Shahri’s case forms part of a broader pattern in which Saudi authorities use arbitrary detention, closed proceedings, enforced disappearance, and information blackout to deter peaceful criticism, silence reformist voices, and punish those who speak about corruption or social issues.
Together for Justice holds the Saudi authorities fully responsible for Khaled Al-Shahri’s physical and psychological well-being, particularly given the absence of reliable information about his detention conditions, access to medical care, or contact with his family and lawyer.
The organization calls on Saudi authorities to immediately disclose his place of detention, health condition, and legal status, allow his family and legal counsel to communicate with him without restriction, and release him immediately and unconditionally unless clear and lawful charges are publicly presented.
Together for Justice further calls for an end to the use of detention and secrecy as tools to punish peaceful expression, and for a comprehensive review of all cases involving people detained over opinion videos, posts, or peaceful religious and social commentary. Khaled Al-Shahri was not arrested for a violent crime. He was arrested over words and videos in which he expressed his views and criticized corruption and social wrongs. After more than six years of silence, his case remains another example of a reality in which speech is treated as a threat, and opinion-holders are left behind bars without transparency or justice.