Saudi Arabia: Save Mansour Al-Raqiba before It is Too Late!

Together for Justice warns that the continued imprisonment of the Saudi blogger Mansour Al-Raqiba, 38, in Saudi jails constitutes a real threat to his difficult health situation in light of the deliberate medical negligence policy.

Mansoor Al-Raqiba, a Saudi businessman who has millions of followers on Snapchat, suffers from kidney failure and diabetic.

According to well-informed sources, Al-Raqiba suffered from deep depression after being subjected to ill-treatment and medical negligence.

However, the Saudi authorities continue to ignore all appeals for his release.

Al-Raqeba was arrested in the first half of 2022 after the Saudi security forces violently stormed his family house in Al-Qassim. In September 2022, the Specialised Criminal Court sentenced him to 18 years in jail for allegedly spreading false news.

The Saudi Specialised Criminal Court is concerned with terrorism-related cases, or in other words, political cases related to freedom of speech charges. Thus, the Saudi claims that Al-Raqeba is charged over a false report he submitted against another citizen are absolutely false.

In this regard, we reaffirm that freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, enshrined in the international human rights laws and treaties. Thus, depriving any citizen from enjoying this right is a clear violation of international laws.

We call on the international community and the UN concerned bodies to intervene urgently to put pressure on the Saudi authorities to release all sick prisoners and to open an investigation into the violations they were subjected to.

We also call for an international intervention to disclose the fate of all those forcibly disappeared in the Kingdom.