Eight years of arbitrary detention for Issa Al-Hamid… SANAD calls for his immediate and unconditional release

Today, 16 September, marks the eighth anniversary of the arrest of human rights defender Issa al-Hamid, who has been arbitrarily detained by the Saudi authorities since 2017 for his peaceful activism in defending human rights, co-founding the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), and engaging with international human rights organisations—activities the authorities deemed as “tarnishing the image of the state.”

In April 2016, the Specialized Criminal Court sentenced al-Hamid to 11 years in prison, followed by an 11-year travel ban.

This was not his first arrest; in 2008, he was detained alongside his brother, the prominent reformist Dr. Abdullah al-Hamid, who died in prison in 2020 as a result of deliberate medical neglect, according to documented reports.

SANAD Human Rights Organization renews its call on the Saudi authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Issa al-Hamid and all prisoners of conscience, end the use of the judiciary as a tool to suppress freedoms, and ensure the Kingdom’s adherence to international standards on freedom of expression, association, and due process guarantees.