Saudi Arabia: Ongoing judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of Mohamed Al-Otaibi

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the ongoing arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Mr. Mohamed Al-Otaibi, co-founder of the Union for Human Rights [1].

According to the information received, on October 15, 2019, Mr. Mohamed Al-Otaibi appeared before Riyadh’s Specialised Criminal Court [2] over charges of "fleeing justice", "going to Qatar", "communicating with foreign entities", and "interfering in public affairs”. A fifth charge, “participating in ACPRA [3]” was added, which Mr. Al-Otaibi rejected because he was a member and administrator of another NGO, namely the Union for Human Rights. However, the Prosecution said they had evidences of Mr. Al-Otaibi’s participation in ACPRA, that they will bring during the next hearing. The charge sheet was handed to him, and Mr. Mohamed Al-Otaibi has until the next hearing (which date was not scheduled yet) to respond to it. No international observers were present for this new hearing in the trial against Mr. Al-Otaibi, which started on July 25, 2019.

The Observatory recalls that this is not the first time Mr. Mohamed Al-Otaibi is being judicially harassed by the Saudi authorities, and that Mr. Mohamed Al-Otaibi, who was sentenced to 14 years in jail in January 2018, remains detained at the Intelligence Prison in Al-Damam since May 2017 (see background information).

The Observatory strongly condemns the ongoing arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Mr. Mohamed Al-Otaibi, which seem to be only aimed at punishing him for his legitimate human rights activities. The Observatory calls on the Saudi authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Al-Otaibi and put an end to any acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against him and all the human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia.

Background information [4]:

Mr. Mohamed Al-Otaibi was first arrested on January 1, 2009, charged with “attempting to initiate a peaceful demonstration” to protest the Gaza war and subsequently sentenced on these charges to three years in prison. He served three years and seven months in prison before he was finally released on June 10, 2012.

In April 2013, Messrs. Mohamed Al-Otaibi and Abdullah Al-Attawi co-founded the Union for Human Rights in Riyadh and applied for registration. Less than a month after the first position papers [5] of the organisation were published on social networks by the Union for Human Rights, a criminal enquiry was launched against them. In May 2013, Saudi authorities rejected the application for registration of the Union for Human Rights and sought undertakings from the founders that they would dissolve the association and desist from carrying on its activities.

In March 2014, Messrs. Mohamed Al-Otaibi and Abdullah Al-Attawi were summoned by Saudi authorities and as a result both pledged to stop issuing statements, reports, or participating in TV interviews. Their case was then closed.

In 2015, following the publication of the Law on Associations and Foundations, Messrs. Mohamed Al-Otaibi and Abdullah Al-Attawi filed an application to register the Union for Human Rights. Their application was rejected and proceedings and general harassment by the Ministry of Social Affairs to dissolve the organisation continued.

On October 30, 2016, the case was re-opened and the trial of Messrs. Mohamed Al-Otaibi and Abdullah Al-Attawi opened before the Specialised Criminal Court on the basis of the charges related to their application to establish their NGO, brought against them in 2013.

In February 2017, Mr. Mohamed Al-Otaibi managed nonetheless to flee to Qatar. On May 24, 2017, on his way to Norway where he had been granted refugee status, he was arrested at Hamad International Airport in Doha and deported to Saudi Arabia the following day. He has been in prison ever since.

A hearing scheduled to take place on July 12, 2017 was postponed to August 8, 2017 and further to January 25, 2018.

On January 25, 2018, Section 12 of the Specialised Criminal Court sentenced Messrs. Mohamed Al-Otaibi and Abdullah Al-Attawi to fourteen and seven years in prison respectively, under a series of charges, including: “participating in setting up an organisation and announcing it before getting an authorisation”, “dividing national unity”, “spreading chaos and inciting public opinion by preparing, drafting and publishing statements that are harmful to the reputation of the Kingdom and its judicial and security institutions”, “opposing judicial decisions”, “formulating data aimed at disrupting security”, “participating in a hunger strike”, and “publishing information about their interrogations despite signing pledges to refrain from doing so”.

Mr. Mohamed Al-Otaibi was facing additional charges of “disseminating information about an investigation”, “abusing the Kingdom via Twitter”, “calling to change the basic system of governance” as well as “spreading harmful information about Saudi Arabia via a satellite channel”.