Save Yasser Al-Ayyaf from Saudi Prisons
The Saudi activist Yasser Al-Ayyaf was sentenced to two years in prison. According to the ruling of the Saudi Judiciary, he should have been released due to the expiry of his sentence, however, he is still arbitrarily detained while suffering ill-treatment and inhumane conditions of detention.
The Saudi security services had arrested the Saudi activist and blogger Yasser Al-Ayyaf in August 2018 for his activities in advocating for prisoners of conscience, human rights, and democracy.
In April 2021, and after the passage of two years and a half in detention, he was sentenced to two years in an unfair trial similar to the trials of all prisoners of conscience in Saudi Arabia.
Three years have passed since the arrest of Al-Ayyaf, and more than a year since the end of his sentence, yet he is still detained and suffering from ill-treatment and prevention of communicating with the outside world, which is the most basic human right.
Al-Ayyaf was subjected to brutal torture in prison resulting in bruises, burns, and fractures in various parts of his body during his solitary confinement.
It is worth noting that the Saudi authorities have detained Al-Ayyaf incommunicado since his arrest and only took him out of his solitary confinement for one month only to return him back until the time of his sentencing, amid reports of his health deterioration due to the lack of health care he suffers from in prison.
Yasser Al-Ayyaf is a Saudi activist who has worked in a number of human rights files; The most prominent of which is prisoners of conscience, detainees who have not been tried, or who have served their sentence and are still in prison, such as the case of his father, Abdullah Al-Ayyaf, who spent more than 10 years in Saudi prisons and exceeded his prison term before being released later.
Al-Ayyaf also participated in a number of protests, sit-ins, and peaceful marches that took place between 2011 and 2013, in Al-Qassim, the Eastern Province, Abha, Jeddah, Riyadh, and other cities.
Several human rights organizations spoke about Al-Ayyaf’s arrest, including ALQST Human Rights Organization, which said in a statement that “the authorities’ arrest of Al-Ayyaf comes after they failed to push him to violence, and thus making him a victim of a number of grave violations and a witness to a number of sensitive cases which he had not disclosed before, because of the pledges he had made, which kept him silent and stopped his activities.
“Together for Justice” demands the immediate release of Yasser Al-Ayyaf, especially since he has served his sentence. We also hold the Saudi authorities responsible for his safety and health, given the reports spread of his deteriorating condition due to poor conditions of detention and torture.
