Saudi Arabia arrests Waleed Al-Tabtabaei and hands him over to Kuwait to return him to prison over freedom of expression cases

Saudi authorities arrested former Kuwaiti MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei immediately upon his arrival from Kuwait, just days after his release from prison, raising growing human rights concerns over increasing Gulf security coordination in pursuing critical voices across borders.

According to media reports, including official outlets, Al-Tabtabaei left Kuwait through the land border crossing heading to Dammam, where Saudi authorities detained him upon arrival and handed him back to Kuwaiti authorities later the same day, leading to his re-arrest.

Kuwaiti authorities had previously released Al-Tabtabaei after he served nearly two years in prison over cases linked to freedom of opinion and expression, including accusations related to criticizing authorities and expressing political views. However, Kuwaiti authorities later claimed his release resulted from a “misunderstanding” in implementing the sentence, stating that the original prison term was four years, not two.

SANAD Human Rights Organization expressed deep concern over the incident, describing it as a dangerous indicator of expanding security cooperation among Gulf states in targeting dissidents, activists, and opinion holders, particularly in cases related to peaceful expression and political criticism.

The case also recalls that of Saudi human rights activist Mohammed Al-Otaibi, who was arrested by Qatari authorities in May 2017 and handed over to Saudi Arabia despite warnings from rights groups that he faced arrest over his peaceful human rights activism. He remains detained to this day.