News of Reformer Detainee Ibrahim Al-Yamani Remain Unknown
Together for Justice organisation emphasise that the news of the reformist detainee Ibrahim Hael Al-Yamani remain unknown since his transfer to another cell, in which other dangerous inmates had previously threatened to kill him on different occasions.
Despite his several pleas made to the prison administration, he remained in detention with them.
The Saudi academic and jurist Ibrahim Hayel Al-Yamani was arrested more than four years ago, as part of the September 2017 campaign against scholars, intellectuals, academics, dissidents, activists and some potential opponents of the country’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Dr. Ibrahim Al Yamani is a Saudi reformist, holds a PhD in criminal legislation and a master’s degree in jurisprudence, a faculty member at Taibah University, a legal advisor at the same university, a member of the appeals’ committee in the municipal elections previously, a former mufti in the Prophet’s Mosque, and a faculty member at the University of “Mohammed bin Saud”.
Al-Yamani was deprived of his most basic legal rights to appoint a lawyer to represent him before the judiciary, to which he was first brought in September 2018, where he was tried on charges he did not commit, and trumped-up crimes based on confessions extracted from him under psychological and physical torture and coercion.
According to activists and human rights defenders, the main reason behind the arrest of Al-Yamani was his calls for societal reform and the promotion of democratic principles.
Al-Yamani’s trial lacks the minimum standards of justice, and is held in secret, where his family, lawyers, the media, or any monitoring body are not allowed to attend the hearings, or see the list of charges raised against him.
In addition to the legal violations of his rights and putting his life at risk by placing him with dangerous prisoners, Al-Yamani has been subjected to harsh and inhuman conditions of detention. He is deprived of leaving the cell and communicating with his family. With the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, Al-Yamani and other detainees were denied contact with the outside world or receiving visits from their families, in addition to being exposed to medical neglect, which contributed to the deterioration of his health.
According to private sources, Al Yamani is being subjected to severe beatings and brutal torture, sometimes causing severe injuries. Two years ago, Al-Yamani was beaten severely by warders, resulting in a broken metatarsal.
We warn of the threats to the life of the detained preacher Dr. Ibrahim Al-Yamani inside his detention facility, and we hold the administration of Al-Ha’ir Prison fully responsible for any harm he may be exposed to.
We affirm that Al-Yamani is being subjected to blatant violations of human rights laws and treaties, which is also reveals the reality of the government’s claims of seeking to achieve reform in the Kingdom.