As the Saudi authorities continue to violate human rights of its citizens, the Saudi academic Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Abdullatif has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, after overturning his release order in a previous case and after finishing his sentence.
The Specialised Criminal Court had issued a 5-year prison sentence against Al-Abdullatif on charges of disobeying the ruler, which is criticising the Saudi regime.
Dr. Al-Abdullatif is an associate professor at the Department of Faith at Imam Saud University. He was arrested in the September 2017 arrest campaign, which is the largest in Saudi Arabia against preachers and academics, such as Dr. Salman Al-Awda, Dr. Awad Al-Qarni, the academic at the Higher Institute of the Judiciary, Abdulaziz Al-Fawzan, the Imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saleh Al-Talib, and Dr. Safar Al-Hawali. The campaign also targeted thinkers and economists, such as Issam Al-Zamil, Abdullah Al-Maliki, Jamil Farsi, and Mustafa Al-Hassan, who was later released as a result of having cancer in prison. The arrest campaign also included journalists and a number of female activists and human rights activists.
The Saudi authorities are imposing a blackout on the conditions of many detainees; however, news report the deterioration of the health of many of them, or being subjected to torture and ill-treatment.
Recently, a UN official accused the Saudi authorities of ongoing violation of human rights and using terrorism as a pretext for arbitrary detention and restricting freedom of opinion and expression.
The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Fionwala Ni Ulin, published a report within the work of the 49th session of the Human Rights Council on global practices related to secret detention, to follow up on the recommendations of a 2010 study on combating terrorism and human rights.
