Seventh Anniversary of the Arrest of Brothers Ahmed and Abdulmajid Al-Zahrani

These days mark seven years since the arrest of brothers Ahmed and Abdulmajid Al-Zahrani, whose ordeal began on August 7, 2018, when State Security officers raided their family home in the Al-Rawdah neighborhood of Jeddah and took them to Dhahban Prison. They were interrogated and pressured to force their brother, activist Omar Al-Zahrani, to halt his political work, before being temporarily released.

Less than two weeks later, on August 21, 2018, the brothers were summoned again to Dhahban Prison. Their father, Abdulaziz, accompanied them to the prison gates, but was later told to return home without his sons. Since that day, they have been held in enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention.

Sanad Human Rights Organization affirms that the case of Ahmed and Abdulmajid Al-Zahrani is a clear example of the Saudi authorities’ policy of hostage-taking, targeting activists by arresting their relatives to silence them. This practice has not only affected activist Omar Al-Zahrani, but also others, such as the mother and brother of activist Abdullah Al-Ghamdi (Aida and Adel Al-Ghamdi), as well as the brothers of activist Dr. Saeed Al-Ghamdi (Mohammed and Asaad Al-Ghamdi). While Asaad was later released, Mohammed remains detained to this day.

Sanad strongly condemns these systematic violations and calls on Saudi authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all detainees from the families of activists and dissidents, and to hold those responsible for such policies accountable for violating international and humanitarian law.