Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani is a renowned Saudi human rights defender who has long fought for democratic reforms in a country where peaceful criticism is conflated with terrorism. For his courageous work, he received the Right Livelihood Award in 2018, along with fellow Saudi activists Abdullah al-Hamid and Waleed Abu al-Khair.

In  2013, al-Qahtani was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment and a 10-year travel ban on charges related to his human rights work, including “disobeying the ruler”. After years of arbitrary detention and repeated ill-treatment, he completed his sentence on November 22, 2022. However, since October 24, 2022, Saudi authorities have extended his detention and denied him any contact with his family or the outside world.

A year later, al-Qahtani’s situation remains unchanged. 

While Saudi authorities claim he remains behind bars for additional crimes, they have failed to communicate his trial dates and prohibited him from getting a lawyer.

We, the undersigned, call on Saudi authorities to immediately:

• Disclose al-Qahtani’s location and let him contact his family;
• Drop all charges against him and release him unconditionally.

For more information about our call:

• Read the joint statement published on October 24, 2023
• Be part of the #FreealQahtani campaign on social media