Yemeni poet Wissam Saad Kada has spent four years in Saudi prisons over a poem.
The Saudi authorities arrested the Yemeni poet in 2020 upon his arrival at Dhahran Airport. According to family sources at the time, he was arrested for praising one of the emblems of the Al-Mahrah province of Yemen, which Riyadh views as hostile, in a poem.
Wissam Kada was sentenced to 14 years in prison by Saudi authorities in October 2022, considering the poem a terrorist act.
The detention of poet Wissam Kada and his subsequent 14-year prison sentence for voicing his views is a glaring illustration of the Saudi government’s infringement on human rights and freedom of expression, as well as the challenging conditions that human rights advocates and activists may encounter in nations that restrict such rights.
Saudi Arabia’s ongoing political arrests necessitate highlighting the importance of any nation’s legal system upholding international humanitarian law and human rights principles that ensure people are protected from arbitrary detention, torture, and cruel or inhuman treatment, as well as the right of every individual to voice his opinions and engage in public discourse without fear of arrest or punishment.
