As September 2025 marks eight years since the initial arrest of Saudi academic Dr. Khalid Al-Ajami, Together for Justice raises grave concern over his rapidly deteriorating health and the recent shocking verdict sentencing him to 23 years in prison. This latest ruling, delivered in secret by the Specialized Criminal Court, reflects the Saudi regime’s relentless campaign to silence dissent and punish prisoners of conscience with excessively harsh and unlawful sentences.
Dr. Al-Ajami was first detained during the September 2017 crackdown that targeted academics, reformists, clerics, and activists. He was subjected to arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and an unfair trial that resulted in a sentence of three years and eight months. Despite completing his sentence, the authorities refused to release him until August 2021, when his condition had deteriorated so severely that they were forced to grant conditional release. He was placed under house arrest and forced to wear an electronic tracking bracelet.
In November 2021, he was re-arrested under flimsy pretexts, despite ongoing health complications requiring consistent medical care. Since then, he has been held in harsh conditions, with almost no access to his family or legal counsel. Reports indicate that his health continues to decline sharply due to medical neglect, inhumane detention conditions, and deliberate denial of treatment.
The imposition of a 23-year prison sentence against a man whose health is already failing amounts to nothing less than a slow death sentence. It exposes the cruelty of a judicial system designed not to deliver justice, but to destroy lives and deter others from speaking out.
Together for Justice holds the Saudi authorities fully responsible for the life and safety of Dr. Khalid Al-Ajami and urgently calls on the international community, the United Nations, and human rights bodies to:
- Demand his immediate and unconditional release.
- Ensure he receives urgent medical treatment.
- Investigate the systemic use of arbitrary detention, torture, and unfair trials against prisoners of conscience in Saudi Arabia.
The world cannot remain silent while Dr. Al-Ajami’s life hangs in the balance.