The Sixth Anniversary of Dr. Amer Al-Alma’i’s Arrest: Continued Detention Despite Sentence Completion

These days mark the sixth anniversary of the arrest of Dr. Amer Al-Alma’i, an internal medicine specialist and former preacher at Othman Al-Ghamdi Mosque in Abha, who has been detained since March 2019 without any legal justification. Despite completing his sentence, the authorities refuse to release him.

The Specialized Criminal Court initially sentenced him to nine years in prison, later reduced to four and a half years, following a trial that lacked the most basic standards of justice—a pattern that has become routine in Saudi Arabia since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took control.

Dr. Al-Alma’i is serving his sentence in Shaar Prison, notorious for its severe human rights violations. Reports confirm that detainees there suffer from physical and psychological torture, medical neglect, and sexual harassment. Sanad Human Rights Organization has previously documented testimonies of these abuses in a special report on Shaar Prison, describing blatant violations of international and humanitarian laws.

Sanad Human Rights Organization strongly condemns the continued detention of Dr. Amer Al-Alma’i after completing his sentence and calls on the Saudi authorities to release him immediately and allow him to reunite with his family.

The organization also urges the international community and human rights organizations to increase pressure on the Saudi authorities to end their repeated violations against prisoners of conscience and to uphold their legal and ethical commitments.