The continued detention of human rights activist Fadhel Al-Manasif

In October 2011, the Saudi authorities arrested human rights activist Fadhel Al-Manasif for defending the arrest of elderly individuals to pressure them into surrendering their sons who participated in a peaceful sit-in. Al-Manasif intervened to speak with security officers and clarify that their arrest was illegal, prompting the police to later arrest him. He remains under arbitrary detention to this day.

It is worth noting that Al-Manasif was arrested twice before his latest arrest: the first in 2009 for participating in a peaceful sit-in calling for the release of prisoners of conscience, which lasted three months, and the second in April 2011, for possessing a handkerchief with phrases that displeased the Saudi authorities, leading to his release after five months of detention.

In prison, he was subjected to several violations, including psychological and physical torture, and his family was prevented from visiting him for 314 days. He was also placed in solitary confinement for more than four months and faced an unfair trial that concluded on September 9, 2014, by the Specialized Criminal Court, sentencing him to 14 years in prison, a travel ban of the same duration, and a fine of 100,000 Saudi Riyals.