Skip to content
  • Common Currency
  • Campaigns
    • PENWrites
    • Writers at Risk
    • Writers in Residence
    • Free speech in the UK
  • News
  • Events
  • Translation
    • PEN Translates
    • PEN Presents
    • PEN Transmissions
    • International Translation Day
    • The World Bookshelf
      • Books
      • Authors
      • Translators
  • Prizes
    • PEN Pinter Prize
    • PEN Ackerley Prize
    • PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize
  • Donate
  • Join
Home > News > Saudi Arabia: lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair to spend another birthday in prison

Saudi Arabia: lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair to spend another birthday in prison

This Saturday, 17 June, lawyer and human rights activist Waleed Abu al-Khair will spend yet another birthday in prison, his fourth behind bars.

Abu al-Khair is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence in Saudi Arabia. A founding member of the Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia (MHRSA) Abu Al-Khair has written over 300 newspaper articles. In 2015, he won the largest prize in the field of human rights in Europe, the Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights Prize. He has also been awarded the Swiss Freethinker Prize and the Swedish Olof Palme Award, and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by two members of the Norwegian Parliament on two occasions, in 2016 and 2017.

Abu al-Khair has dedicated his life to holding the Saudi Arabian government accountable for human rights abuses, providing legal representation to many victims in Saudi Arabia, including Raif Badawi, the founder of the Saudi Liberal Network internet discussion group who is currently serving a ten-year prison sentence. This Saturday, 17 June, also marks the fifth anniversary of Badawi’s arrest.

In response to the Saudi authorities introducing further restrictions on freedom of expression by shutting down gatherings of liberal youth in public spaces, deeming their discussion ‘unbelief’ and ‘deviant thought’, Abu al-Khair started hosting salons at his home for politically engaged Saudi youth. He named the salon ‘samood’, an Arabic word meaning ‘resistance’ or ‘steadfastness’. Topics included politics, religion, culture, and human rights. In February of that year, a judge and some clerics demanded that he be given the death penalty for allowing his guests at the salon to speak freely about ideas opposed to religious conservativism.

In February 2014, Saudi Arabia passed a new anti-terrorism law, using a vague definition of terrorism to crack down on free speech. Abu al-Khair was the first human rights activist to be tried and convicted under the law.  On 6 July 2014, the Specialised Criminal Court, Saudi Arabia’s terrorism tribunal, sentenced him to 15 years in prison, a 15-year ban on travel abroad, and a fine of 200,000 Saudi Riyals. He was convicted on a number of charges related to his peaceful activism, including comments in the media and on Twitter criticising Saudi human rights violations. He was sentenced on charges including ‘striving to overthrow the state and the authority of the King’; ‘criticising and insulting the judiciary’; ‘assembling international organisations against the Kingdom’; and ‘inciting public opinion’.

On 12 January 2015 the ruling was upheld at the Court of Appeal: Abu al-Khair refused to apologise or recognise the legitimacy of the Specialised Criminal Court. He is now in Dahban Central Prison in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

TAKE ACTION

Spread the word

Share details of Waleed’s case with friends and colleagues and on social media – #FreeWaleed – and follow @waleedabulkhair on Twitter.

Join the London vigil for Waleed Abu Al-Khair and Raif Badawi

9-10am, Friday 16 June

To mark Waleed Abu Al-Khair’s birthday and the fifth anniversary of his client, blogger Raif Badawi’s, arrest, English PEN will be hosting a vigil at the Saudi Embassy in London and continuing to call for their immediate release.

We will be joined by colleagues from Bread and Roses TV, Campaign Against Arms Trade, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, Index on Censorship, One Law For All, the Peter Tatchell Foundation and Reporters Without Borders. Please join us if you can.

NB Activists are asked to meet at the Curzon Street entrance to the Embassy. (note: the postal address of the Embassy is 30-32 Charles Street, Mayfair, London).

Monday 12th
June 2017

Share

Join our mailing list

Sign up to receive the latest English PEN news and events.

SIGN UP
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Partners
  • Outreach
  • Jobs
  • Contact us

With thanks to our Core Funders

©1921 - 2020

English PEN is a company limited by guarantee number 5747142 (England & Wales) and a registered charity, number 1125610.

We use cookies to help us improve your experience on our website. By closing this notification or interacting with the website you agree to our use of cookies. ACCEPT Find out more
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT