Preacher Mohammed Al-Shannar has completed seven years of arbitrary detention in Saudi prisons.
Al-Shannar suffers from oppression and ill-treatment inside prison, including prevention from communicating with his family for long periods, or receiving visits, in addition to insults, poor detention conditions, medical negligence, and other practices that violate the rights of detainees.
Al-Shannar was arrested in September 2017 in an arrest campaign against a number of preachers and academics, such as Dr. Salman Al-Awda, Dr. Awad Al-Qarni, Imam of the Grand Mosque Saleh Al-Talib, and Dr. Safar Al-Hawali, in addition to thinkers, economists, journalists, and a number of female and male human rights activists.
The Saudi authorities hide the conditions of many detainees, while news leaks confirm the deterioration of the health of many of them, or their exposure to torture and ill-treatment.
The long detention of Al-Shannar due to his intellectual and political activity is a clear example of the Saudi authorities’ violation of human rights and freedom of expression, and of the difficult conditions that activists and human rights defenders can face in countries that restrict freedom of expression.
The ongoing political arrests in Saudi Arabia requires upholding the right of every individual to express his opinion and participate in public dialogue, without fear of arrest or punishment, and the importance of having a legal system in any country respecting the principles of human rights and international humanitarian law to guarantee the protection of individuals from arbitrary arrest, torture, and cruel or inhuman treatment.
