DR.
MOHAMMED FAHD AL-QAHTANI
Saudi economist and co-founder of ACPRA, jailed in 2013 on a 10-year sentence. Forcibly disappeared for two years after his term expired in 2022 and finally conditionally released in January 2025, subject to a 10-year travel ban.
- Country
- Saudi Arabia
- Role
- Academic
- Arrested
- 9 Nov 2012
- Sentence
- 10 years imprisonment + 10-year travel ban (March 2013). Held an additional two years past sentence expiry through enforced disappearance.
Released after
Four thousand nine hundred+ days.
Days held before release on 9 November 2012. Case closed · counter frozen
-
Arrest
Placed on trial before the Specialised Criminal Court
After years of public advocacy through ACPRA, he was formally summoned to the Specialised Criminal Court in Riyadh and prevented from leaving the country.
-
Verdict
Sentenced to 10 years on charges tied entirely to his rights work
The court convicted him of turning public opinion against the state and founding ACPRA without a licence, imposing a ten-year sentence followed by a ten-year travel ban.
-
Case update
ACPRA dissolved; all co-founders imprisoned or exiled
The authorities forcibly disbanded the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association. Every one of its founding members was eventually jailed, fled the country, or both.
-
Case update
Sentence expires; he is not released
His ten-year term concluded on this date. Rather than freeing him, the authorities cut all communication with his family and disappeared him into incommunicado detention.
-
Case update
UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention demands his release
After repeated petitions from his family, UN experts issued an opinion finding his continued detention beyond sentence expiry arbitrary under international law.
-
Case update
Reappears alive after two years of enforced disappearance
His family received the first sign of life since November 2022 — a brief phone call confirming he was still alive and still in al-Ha'ir prison.
-
Release
Conditionally released after 12 years and 2 months
He was freed from al-Ha'ir prison subject to a ten-year travel ban that bars him from joining his wife and five children in the United States.
-
Case update
One year of conditional freedom; travel ban remains in force
He continues to live under surveillance and travel restrictions in Riyadh. ACPRA remains banned and he has been unable to resume public human rights work.
Approved
The arrest, and what followed.
Background and work
Dr. Mohammed Fahd al-Qahtani is a Saudi economist trained in the United States and a co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), one of the kingdom's first independent human rights organisations. ACPRA built a public archive of arbitrary detention cases, advocated for constitutional reform, and pressed for the rights of political prisoners and their families through plain-language reports, press interviews and direct petitions to the royal court.
Arrest and detention
After years of intermittent harassment, he was placed on trial in 2012 alongside fellow ACPRA co-founder Mohammed al-Bajadi. In March 2013 the Specialised Criminal Court in Riyadh sentenced him to ten years in prison followed by a ten-year travel ban. The charges centred on the founding and work of ACPRA itself: turning public opinion against the authorities, founding an unlicensed organisation, and breaking allegiance to the ruler.
Conviction and imprisonment
He served his sentence at al-Ha'ir prison south of Riyadh. ACPRA was forcibly dissolved during his trial; every one of its co-founders was either imprisoned or forced into exile. His original term expired on 22 November 2022, but he was not released. Instead, the authorities placed him in incommunicado detention and refused to acknowledge his whereabouts. His family in the United States went two years without confirmation that he was alive.
Current status as of 2026
On 7 January 2025, after twelve years and two months in custody, he was conditionally released. The conditions include a ten-year travel ban that prevents him from rejoining his wife Maha al-Qahtani and their five children, all of whom live in the United States. He remains under surveillance and subject to summary recall to detention. He has not resumed any public human rights work; ACPRA itself remains banned.
Sources on file with HuMENA EditorialReading time · 6 minutes
"I do not seek a hero's welcome. I seek only my children's embrace."HuMENA Editorial · 2026
Take action.
Ways to act on Dr. Mohammed Fahd al-Qahtani's case — chosen contextually from country, status, and your location.
Compiled by HuMENA's Saudi Arabia research team from primary documentation, public filings, family-supplied legal documents, and confidential partner reporting. Editorial responsibility: HuMENA Editorial Board.
Editorial sign-off · published