Together for Justice renews its urgent call for the immediate and unconditional release of elderly Egyptian psychiatrist Dr. Sabri Masad Ibrahim Shalaby, who has been detained in Saudi Arabia since 28 January 2020 and is serving a ten-year prison sentence following a trial marked by serious violations of fundamental fair trial guarantees.
His continued imprisonment, as he approaches the age of 70 and suffers from multiple chronic health conditions, raises grave concerns about his physical safety, particularly amid documented reports of solitary confinement, ill-treatment, and inadequate medical care.
Shalaby’s case tells the story of an Egyptian doctor who spent more than thirteen years working in Saudi Arabia’s public healthcare system, only to find himself imprisoned after successfully pursuing a legal claim against the Saudi Ministry of Health for unpaid wages.
Instead of receiving his employment entitlements and returning to Egypt after years of professional service, he was arrested, prosecuted under counterterrorism legislation, and sentenced to a lengthy prison term on charges that human rights organizations have described as baseless.
Dr. Shalaby had worked as a psychiatrist for the Saudi Ministry of Health since 2006, including at Al-Wajh Hospital in the Tabuk region.
During his employment, he discovered that the ministry had registered him under a job classification below his actual professional qualifications, resulting in years of underpayment.
In 2017, he filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for the salary differences owed to him. After approximately two years of legal proceedings, a Saudi court ruled in his favour in December 2019, ordering the health authorities to settle the outstanding payments.
However, the Ministry of Health appealed the decision, terminated his employment, and issued final exit visas for Shalaby and his wife.
He subsequently prepared to return to Egypt after attending the appeal hearing. Before he could leave, however, Saudi security officers arrived at his home in Al-Wajh on 28 January 2020 and arrested him.
According to testimony from his family documented by international human rights organizations, the officers did not present an arrest or search warrant. They seized electronic devices, personal belongings, and his wife’s passport, which was returned approximately one week later.
When his wife asked why he was being taken away, she was told that he would be questioned briefly and then allowed to return.
He never returned home.
Instead, he was transferred into security detention and subsequently held at Dhahban Prison near Jeddah, beginning years of imprisonment, isolation, and legal uncertainty.
Together for Justice stresses that the timing of his arrest, shortly after winning a case against a government ministry and before the final resolution of the employment dispute, raises serious concerns about possible retaliation for exercising his legal right to claim unpaid wages.
While the precise motivation for his arrest has not been independently established, the circumstances warrant an impartial investigation into whether criminal proceedings were used to punish him for pursuing his employment rights.
Saudi prosecutors accused Shalaby of expressing sympathy for and joining the Muslim Brotherhood, citing allegations that he had voted for former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and held sympathetic views towards the organization.
Shalaby denied the accusations, maintaining that he had not participated in political or organizational activities.
His family also challenged the allegations concerning his purported participation in Egypt’s presidential elections, questioning their consistency with his residence and employment circumstances in Saudi Arabia.
More seriously, court documents examined by Human Rights Watch revealed that the prosecution relied partly on statements from two former colleagues who were themselves defendants in the case.
Both men told the court that they had been threatened with solitary confinement and restrictions on family communication to force them to sign confessions containing allegations about Shalaby’s supposed links to the organization.
The use of statements allegedly obtained through threats and coercion fundamentally undermines the fairness and credibility of criminal proceedings.
It is particularly concerning in a case where no convincing evidence of violent conduct or involvement in terrorist activities has been publicly established.
In August 2022, Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court sentenced Shalaby to twenty years in prison.
The sentence was reduced to ten years on appeal in December 2022, with the court dropping the charge of joining a terrorist organization while maintaining the conviction related to expressing sympathy for it.
On 23 May 2023, the Saudi Supreme Court upheld the ten-year sentence despite continuing human rights concerns about the evidence and the fairness of the proceedings.
Together for Justice emphasizes that reducing a prison sentence does not remedy the underlying injustice of a prosecution based on disputed evidence and serious procedural violations.
Shalaby reportedly faced significant restrictions on effective legal representation during his trial. His family and Egyptian diplomatic representatives were also prevented from attending the sentencing hearing.
The organization considers these circumstances deeply troubling and inconsistent with the fundamental requirement that criminal proceedings provide meaningful opportunities to challenge prosecution evidence and defend against allegations.
The suffering endured by Shalaby has extended far beyond the judicial process.
During the initial period of his detention, he reportedly spent approximately ten months in solitary confinement, including three months without communication with the outside world.
He was also subjected to psychological pressure and ill-treatment and undertook a hunger strike in protest against his detention conditions and restrictions on communication with his family.
His physical health has deteriorated significantly throughout his imprisonment.
Shalaby suffers from severe and chronic back pain, complications related to previous spinal surgery, asthma, and diabetes. He also developed cataracts during his detention.
Despite his medical needs, he repeatedly requested access to a neurologist to address his spinal condition and persistent pain.
He even offered to pay for specialist treatment himself, but his requests were not adequately addressed.
For an elderly detainee living with chronic illnesses, prolonged denial of medical care can result in serious and potentially irreversible complications.
His family has repeatedly requested his release on medical and humanitarian grounds, warning about his deteriorating health and the risks associated with continued imprisonment.
Nevertheless, he remained in detention, with human rights reporting published in 2026 confirming that he continued to serve his ten-year sentence.
Together for Justice considers the continued imprisonment of an elderly physician under these conditions a serious violation of his rights to health, dignity, and humane treatment.
The organization stresses that prolonged solitary confinement and deliberate denial of necessary medical care may constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, depending on the circumstances and severity of the harm inflicted.
Shalaby’s case also exposes broader concerns about the vulnerability of foreign professionals and migrant workers in Saudi Arabia when employment disputes involve powerful government institutions.
A doctor who sought to recover wages owed for years of service through the judicial system ultimately found himself facing criminal prosecution under counterterrorism legislation, while his employment entitlements reportedly remained unsettled.
The right to fair wages, access to justice, and protection against arbitrary detention must apply equally to citizens and foreign nationals.
Seeking legal remedies against an employer, including a government institution, must never expose workers to retaliation or criminal prosecution.
Together for Justice holds the Saudi authorities fully responsible for Dr. Sabri Shalaby’s physical and psychological safety and calls for his immediate and unconditional release, the overturning of his conviction, and an end to all punitive measures associated with his case.
The organization also demands an urgent independent medical examination, unrestricted access to appropriate specialist treatment, and regular communication with his family and legal representatives pending his release.
An independent investigation must be conducted into the circumstances of his arrest and prosecution, allegations of coerced confessions, prolonged solitary confinement, ill-treatment, and denial of adequate medical care.
Those responsible for any established violations must be held accountable.
Together for Justice further urges the Egyptian government to fulfil its diplomatic and consular responsibilities towards its citizen, take immediate and effective steps to secure his release and safe return to Egypt, and support efforts to recover his outstanding financial entitlements and obtain appropriate remedies for the harm he has suffered.
The organization also calls on relevant United Nations human rights mechanisms, particularly those concerned with arbitrary detention, torture, the right to health, and migrant workers’ rights, to examine his case and press for urgent action.
Sabri Shalaby’s case cannot be reduced to a ten-year prison sentence.
It concerns a doctor who devoted years of his life to caring for patients, sought justice through the courts to recover wages owed to him, and subsequently found himself imprisoned under disputed terrorism-related charges, enduring an unfair trial and deteriorating health.
Nearly seven years after his arrest, the continued detention of elderly Egyptian physician Sabri Shalaby is not merely a legal injustice. It is an escalating threat to his health and life.
Together for Justice demands his immediate release, the restoration of his rights and outstanding entitlements, and his safe return to his family and home country before prolonged imprisonment and medical neglect cause irreversible harm.
