Saudi prominent human rights defender dr. Mohammed Al-Qahtani was assaulted by a prisoner in Al-Ha’ir Reformatory Prison in Riyadh, rights sources revealed Monday.
The sources pointed out that Al-Qahtani was assaulted by a prisoner who is a member of a large group of mentally-ill patients, who are crowded in ward 8A.
The attack came as part of a series of continuous targeting of human rights defenders who are detained in the Kingdom’s prisons.
On 26 May 2022 at night, Dr. Al-Qahtani was assaulted by a prisoner who is a member of a large group of mentally-ill patients, who are crowded in ward 8A.
Since 2017, the Saudi authorities have systematically and deliberately placed sick prisoners in ward 8A, in order to endanger the lives of human rights defenders and other activists.
Despite the many requests made by the families of detainees in ward 8A that sick prisoners be transferred to somewhere they can receive adequate medical treatment, the authorities did little about it.
Al-Qahtani, a founding member of the Association for Civil and Political Rights in Saudi Arabia (ACPRA), was sentenced him to 10 years in prison on charges related to his human rights activities.
