Such transfers of detainees to the capital are generally a sign that the authorities plan to try the detainees before an exceptional court in order to condemn them following a brief and secret hearing, often without informing the accused of the nature of the charges against him.

Dr Saud Mukhtar al Hashimi, 47 years old, is a doctor known in his country and throughout the Arab World for his staunch defence of civil and political liberties and for his courageous statements in support of the Palestinian people. He was arrested without any judicial arrest warrant and without being informed of the reasons for his arrest.

The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) of the UN was informed of this case on 14 February 2007 by Alkarama and adopted Opinion 27/2007 on 28 November 2007 confirming the arbitrary nature of the detention of Dr Al Hashimi and the other eight people arrested alongside him, Mr Sulaiman Al Rashoudi, Mr Esaam Al Basrawy, Dr Abdulrahman Al Shumairi, Dr Abdulaziz Al Khuraiji, Mr Abdurlahman Sadeq Khan, Mr Al Sharif Seif Al Dine Shahine, Mr Mohamed Hasan Al Qurashi and Dr Moussa Al Qarni. The WGAD stated in this opinion that their detention was in violation of articles 9, 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

As the Saudi government failed to implement the recommendations of the UN body by remedying to the situation of the detainees, Alkarama, on 14 July 2009, again called on the WGAD to intervene on behalf of the detainees with the Saudi authorities.

The Committee Against Torture, which will soon examine Saudi Arabia's second periodic report, asked the Saudi authorities specific information about the situation of a number of detainees including Dr Al Hashimi.

Alkarama again calls on the Saudi authorities to release the 9 prisoners of conscience and emphasises that, since the day of their arrest nearly 3 years ago, they have never been presented before any judicial authority whatsoever to be notified of the accusations or charges against them.

Dr Al Hashimi and his co-detainees have been considered as political detainees since their arrest in February 2007. The Saudi Authorities have continuously failed in their attempts to alter their political views and as a result a number of them have been put under house arrest. Alkarama has called for Dr Al Hashimi and his co-detainees' immediate release as the Saudi authorities continued to deny them a fair trial and even the most basic judicial proceedings.