Eight Years of Arbitrary Detention and Abuse: SANAD Calls for the Release of Abdullah Al-Hawali

These days mark the eighth anniversary of the arrest of Abdullah Safar Al-Hawali, who was detained by the Saudi authorities in July 2018 while attending a relative’s wedding alongside his brother, as part of a wider campaign targeting members of his family over the views of his father, Dr. Safar Al-Hawali.

In June 2022, the Specialized Criminal Court sentenced Abdullah Al-Hawali to six years in prison. The Court of Appeal later increased the sentence to 16 years, prompting him to launch a hunger strike in protest against the ruling and the conditions of his detention.

According to documentation by SANAD Human Rights Organization, Abdullah Al-Hawali has been subjected to a series of violations since his arrest, including detention without a warrant or formal charges, physical torture, months of sleep deprivation, denial of family visits and communication, deprivation of legal representation, and secret proceedings conducted without the basic guarantees of a fair trial.

The targeting extended beyond Abdullah. His father, Dr. Safar Al-Hawali, his brothers Abdulrahman and Abdulrahim, his uncle Saadallah Al-Hawali, and his father’s office manager, Dr. Ismail Al-Hassan, have also completed eight years in prison after being arrested in the same month.

These arrests took place during a security campaign that included a violent raid on Dr. Safar Al-Hawali’s home over a draft book containing criticism of Saudi policies and governance. According to widely circulated testimonies, the raid left one of his daughters with severe psychological trauma that caused her to lose the ability to speak.

SANAD Human Rights Organization renews its call on the Saudi authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Abdullah Al-Hawali, his father Dr. Safar Al-Hawali, his brothers, his uncle, and his father’s office manager, and to end all systematic human rights violations against them.