Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Abdulatif Enters His Ninth Year in Detention Despite Being Over 65 and Suffering Serious Health Conditions

Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Abdulatif has entered his ninth year in Saudi prisons since his arrest in September 2017, as part of a wide-ranging crackdown that targeted academics, clerics, and activists for their peacefully expressed views and positions.

Despite being over 65 years old and suffering from chronic illnesses that pose a serious threat to his life, Saudi authorities continue to refuse his release, in a blatant violation of human rights and international legal standards concerning elderly and ill detainees.

Authorities brought fabricated political charges against him, including “disobedience to the ruler,” “financing terrorism,” and “sympathizing with the Muslim Brotherhood”—charges routinely used by Saudi authorities to criminalize freedom of expression, to the point where a single tweet can be treated as a terrorist offense.

Since the moment of his arrest, Dr. Al-Abdulatif has been subjected to grave violations, including terrorizing his family during the raid and arrest, enforced disappearance, denial of the right to appoint a lawyer, prohibition of contact with his family, and a secret trial lacking the most basic guarantees of justice.

Initially, he was sentenced to five years in prison. However, after he completed that sentence, authorities overturned the ruling and arbitrarily retried him, later sentencing him to 20 years in prison.

SANAD Human Rights Organization condemns the continued arbitrary detention of Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Abdulatif, calls for his immediate and unconditional release, holds Saudi authorities fully responsible for the deterioration of his health, and urges the international community to take urgent action to halt ongoing abuses against political detainees in the Kingdom.