On 20 March, as he was leaving his residence in Riyadh with his wife to return to Syria, he chose to wait for her outside. However, when she came down, he was nowhere to be found. Desperate, she contacted the local police the next day, but they refused to give her any information on her husband's whereabouts and fate. That day, several Intelligence services agents searched their apartment and took Alaaeddin's personal belongings, and his wife deduced that they were responsible for her husband's disappearance the day before.

Although she contacted the Syrian diplomatic authorities and appointed a lawyer, she received no news from her husband until 23 May - more than two months after his disappearance - when she received a short phone call during which he told her he was doing well, but couldn't reveal his place of detention or details about his arrest. To date, she remains in the dark about the reasons of her husband's arrest and the authorities continue to deny his detention. It is however clear that Alaaeddin has been arrested for his activities as a publisher and a human rights defender, and for a project he had of creating a new publishing house with Saudi intellectuals.