Nearly Eight Years Since the Arrest of Dr. Mohammed Mousa Al-Sharif: Ongoing Suffering and Severe Abuses in Saudi Arabia

For nearly eight years, Saudi authorities have continued to detain Dr. Mohammed Mousa Al-Sharif, who was arrested in September 2017 during a campaign targeting influencers, intellectuals, and activists. He is serving an arbitrary 10-year prison sentence.

During his years in detention, Dr. Al-Sharif has endured a series of severe abuses. Most recently, after undergoing surgery to remove a hernia, prison authorities confiscated his bed and forced him to sleep on the floor, which worsened his pain, according to human rights sources. He was also denied water for long periods until his thirst drove him to cry out without any response. In the past, security forces raided his home at night, mistreated him during his arrest, subjected him to prolonged enforced disappearance, denied him contact with his family, and deprived him of the right to appoint a lawyer. He also faced 20 fabricated charges.

Dr. Al-Sharif is a former pilot for Saudi Arabian Airlines, a writer and historian with encyclopedic works and media programs, and is well known for his pro-freedom stances and rejection of oppressive regimes.

Sanad Human Rights Organization calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Mohammed Mousa Al-Sharif, an end to all abuses against him, and the release of all prisoners of conscience in Saudi Arabia.