On 9 March 2013, Abdullah Al Hamid and Mohammad Al Qahtani, two prominent Saudi human rights defenders, were sentenced by the Riyadh Criminal Court to heavy prison sentences for inter alia "disobeying the ruler", "inciting disorder", "setting up an unlicensed organization" and having shared "false information presented as facts to official international bodies". On Monday 3 March 2014, they began a hunger strike to protest against the conditions of their detention in Al-Hayer Prison where they are currently imprisoned. On the 1st anniversary of their sentence, Alkarama urges the Saudi authorities to immediately release them as they are solely detained for having peacefully expressed their opinion and defended the most basic rights of their fellow citizens.
On 30 June 2013, Alkarama submitted the case of Yahya Hussein Ahmad Al Shaqibel, a 33 year-old Yemeni national, to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Mr Al Shaqibel was arrested in October 2009 by unidentified Malaysian security forces on demand of Saudi intelligence services (Mabahith) while on a business trip in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Following his arrest in Malaysia, he was transferred to Saudi Arabia where he was arrested upon arrival in Riyadh. After almost four years of arbitrary detention, he has been accused of 'khariji' - meaning he does not follow the same Sunni Islam ideology as the official Saudi interpretation - and terrorism. In light of the arbitrary nature of his arrest and detention, Alkarama requested the Working Group examine the case to ascertain the arbitrary nature of his detention.
Zakaria Mohamed Ali, president of a cultural association in Saudi Arabia, was arrested without a warrant on 20 April 2013 in Riyadh by Saudi intelligence services. Since then, he is illegally detained in Dhaban prison, Jeddah. His crime? Promoting critical thinking and cultural exchange between Saudi Arabia and Japan...