MOHAMMED
AL-OTAIBI

Background and Work

Mohammed Al-Otaibi has worked in the Saudi human rights movement since 1996. Between 1999 and 2016 he participated in online discussions and forums on civil and political rights. From 2006 onward he signed collective statements demanding the release of prisoners of conscience and calling for political reform in the Kingdom.

In early 2009, while promoting the rights of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Saudi authorities arrested him for the first time. He remained imprisoned for almost three years and seven months. After his release, in 2013, he co-founded the Union for Human Rights in Riyadh. The organisation's objectives included the abolition of the death penalty and strengthening the role of women in Saudi society. For three years Al-Otaibi worked with the Union, issuing international appeals to document human rights violations committed by the Saudi government. Throughout this period the government subjected the organisation and its members to constant harassment.

Investigation and Flight

Shortly after the Union for Human Rights was established in 2013, the Public Prosecution launched a criminal investigation into its founding members. Al-Otaibi and other activists were summoned on charges of co-founding an illegal association. In March 2014 he was summoned again for questioning by the Public Prosecution and required to sign a pledge to stop participating in television interviews and issuing reports and statements. The Prosecution then placed him under surveillance, including monitoring his social media accounts, without informing him.

On 30 October 2016, the Special Criminal Court summoned Al-Otaibi and formally charged him with illegally founding an association, spreading chaos and stirring up public opinion against the state, harming the reputation of the Kingdom before the international community and human rights bodies, and publishing hostile posts on Twitter that insulted the Kingdom and the religious authority. The charges alleged that he prepared, signed, and published statements on the internet with the intention of dividing national unity and disrupting the social order.

On 30 March 2017, in order to avoid prosecution for his human rights work, Al-Otaibi fled to Qatar. He obtained refugee status and was scheduled for resettlement in Norway as part of a UN protection programme.

Arrest and Deportation

On 24 May 2017, officers arrested Al-Otaibi at Doha International Airport as he was preparing to board a flight to Oslo. Four days later, on 28 May 2017, he was deported to Saudi Arabia. Upon arrival, officers of the General Directorate of Investigation, commonly known as Al Mabahith, arrested him and transferred him to the Al Mabahith detention facility in Dammam. He was held incommunicado for two weeks following his arrest and placed in solitary confinement for three months.

Legal Proceedings

On 25 January 2018, the Special Criminal Court sentenced Al-Otaibi to fourteen years in prison. He was denied access to a lawyer during the trial. On 22 February 2018, he appealed the decision, but the sentence was upheld.

On 25 July 2019, Al-Otaibi was brought back before the court for a new trial. He faced additional charges of fleeing justice, going to Qatar, communicating with foreign entities, and interfering in public affairs. In December 2020 the court handed down an additional one-year prison sentence. He appealed, and in April 2021 the sentence was increased on appeal to three years. His total sentence now stands at seventeen years in prison.

Detention Conditions and Health

Al-Otaibi is held in the Al Mabahith prison in Dammam, far from his family in Jeddah. In 2019 prison authorities denied him telephone contact with his family during the holy month of Ramadan. He has been permitted only one family visit every forty-five days.

He suffers from high blood pressure. Prison administrators have denied him access to suitable medication for his condition. On 16 January 2021, Al-Otaibi began a hunger strike in the General Intelligence Prison in Al-Dhamam. He demanded to be moved to a prison closer to his family in Jeddah and to receive proper medical care for his blood pressure. He ended the hunger strike on 31 January 2021, after more than two weeks. His demands for transfer and adequate medical treatment remain unmet.