Saudi lawyer and legal consultant Ahmed Al-Rashed has now spent seven years in detention without trial, making his case one of the longest instances of arbitrary detention of a human rights defender in the Kingdom.
Al-Rashed was arrested on 11 April 2018 without a judicial warrant, after gaining prominence for his public advocacy on behalf of prisoners of conscience in Saudi Arabia.
His arrest was carried out arbitrarily—he was taken to an undisclosed location and denied access to his family or legal representation, in complete disregard for basic legal standards under both domestic and international law.
Al-Rashed’s case is not isolated. It forms part of a broader, systematic crackdown on lawyers and human rights defenders in the country—targeted not for any crime, but for honourably fulfilling their professional duties. Several other lawyers remain behind bars, including Waleed Abu al-Khair, Abdulaziz Al-Shubaily, Muteb Al-Omari, Dr. Abdullah Al-Fayez, and Abdulaziz Al-Sunaidi.
This pattern of repression reflects a lack of political will to uphold the rule of law, turning legal defence into a dangerous act in a country where the judiciary is expected to be a source of justice—not a tool of punishment.
The absence of public charges, the denial of a fair trial, and Al-Rashed’s prolonged incommunicado detention all constitute serious human rights violations that cannot be justified on security or political grounds. Rather, they reveal a punitive system that targets even those who choose to defend the law itself.
On this anniversary, calls are renewed for the immediate release of Ahmed Al-Rashed, an end to his suffering, and accountability for all those complicit in his continued extrajudicial detention.
