Saudi Authorities should Immediately Release Military Expert Zayed Al-Banawi
Together for Justice team warns of the health deterioration of the Saudi detainee, Zayed Al-Banawi, who suffers from cancer while the prison administration is deliberately depriving him of the required health care and medicines necessary for his condition, in addition to holding him in miserable and inhumane detention conditions.
The Saudi authorities had arrested the military expert, Dr. Zayed Mohamed Al-Banawi, in October 2017, as part of the massive campaign of arrests by the regime against experts, academics, journalists, activists and intellectuals in late 2017, months after Mohamed bin Salman assumed the mandate of the Crown Prince.
Zayed Al-Banawi, a retired colonel, specializing in political science and security sciences, like the rest of the political detainees in Saudi Arabia, suffers from ill-treatment and violation of all basic rights, most notably the right to a fair trial, as he is prohibited from legal representation or access to his file, in addition to depriving him of communicating with his family, in addition to health neglect, and psychological and physical torture.
The reasons for Al-Banawi’s arrest were not announced, but his arrest came after he warned the Saudi authorities of complying with the UAE desires to destroy the region, and for criticizing the decision to boycott Qatar, which he considered would destroy Saudi Arabia.
Months before his arrest, Al-Banawi confirmed in a video on his YouTube channel that the Saudi regime is involved in plans that would separate Saudi Arabia from the Arab region, starting with its dispute with Qatar.
We call on the various UN agencies to urgently intervene to pressure the Saudi regime to ensure that Al-Banawi receives the necessary care for his health condition, which is exacerbated due to the conditions of detention, where Cancer is killing him and the spread of the Corona virus threatens him and the lives of everyone.
We also call on all human rights defenders in the world to write about Zayed Al-Banawi’s situation and to show solidarity with him to demand his immediate release, to open an urgent investigation into all the violations he was subjected to, and to bring those responsible for legal accountability.
