Abdulilah Al-Howaiti… More Than Five Years in Prison Under a Sentence Extending to 100 Years

For more than five years, activist Abdulilah Rashid Ibrahim Al-Howaiti has remained in detention by Saudi authorities, following his arrest in 2020 over his opposition to the forced displacement of members of the Howaitat tribe as part of the NEOM project.

In August 2022, the Specialized Criminal Court of Appeals issued a ruling sentencing Al-Howaiti to 50 years in prison, followed by an additional 50-year travel ban—one of the longest documented sentences in Saudi Arabia. His arrest came as part of a broader campaign that targeted dozens of Howaitat tribespeople, who were subjected to arrest and security harassment simply for refusing to abandon their homes and land.

SANAD Human Rights Organization condemns the continued detention of Abdulilah Al-Howaiti and calls on Saudi authorities to overturn the sentence, release him immediately and unconditionally, and to free all prisoners of conscience held in Saudi prisons.