Saudi Authorities Must Release Activist Yahya Al-Wadaei

Together for Justice denounces the continued detention of the Saudi activist, Yahya Al-Wadaei, despite him completing his prison sentence more than four years ago.

The organisation further noted that his arrest was not legal in the first place and that his continued detention is a violation of international laws.

Yahya Al-Wadaei is one of the prominent Saudi activists who was jailed more than ten years ago (January 2013) for tweeting in defense of freedom of expression and calling for the release of political prisoners.

The Saudi authorities considered his tweets an assault and sentenced him in 2016 to six years imprisonment.

Although he served his prison sentence four years ago, Al-Wadaei is still held in arbitrary detention with no family contact.

Violating everyone’s right to life, liberty, and security constitutes a flagrant violation of international law. The Saudi government must ensure justice for all victims of these violations and that such practices are not repeated in the future.

We urge decision-makers in the world to intervene urgently to save and help release Yahya Al-Wadaei and all those arbitrarily detained in Saudi Arabia, and ensure that they obtain all their rights guaranteed by international law.

We also affirm that the difficult detention conditions in Saudi prisons constitute a real danger to all prisoners, even those who look healthy.

Thus, we join the human rights appeals to immediately release prisoners of conscience and human rights defenders and to immediately disclose the fate of those forcibly disappeared in Saudi jails.