Saudi Arabia

Independent security researchers, in a June 24, 2014 report, identified surveillance software made by the Italian firm Hacking Team that appears intended to target individuals in Qatif, in eastern Saudi Arabia.

Waleed Abu Al-Khair, a human rights lawyer, is being tried on a range of charges that include “preparing, storing and transmitting information that undermines public order” and violating Saudi Arabia’s cyber-crime law.

Since the surprise Arab uprisings of 2011, the Saudi government has worked assiduously to ensure it has all the tools of censorship it needs to control dissent.

Blogger and human rights activist Raef Badawi’s sentence for “insulting Islam” was increased by a Jeddah criminal court on appeal on 7 May to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes and a fine of 1 million riyals (200,000 euros).

Two Saudi activists were sentenced to five and six years in jail and fines of 50,000 Saudi Riyals ($US 13,311) each on charges related to inciting protests and participating in protests in Eastern Province.

The Riyadh Criminal Court sentenced activist and blogger Fadel Al-Manasif to 15 years in jail on 17 April for participating in demonstrations in the Al-Qatif region in Saudi Arabia in 2011.

Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court ordered Abu al-Khair’s detention when he attended a hearing in his case on 15 April 2014. Since his arrest the authorities have not allowed him to contact family members, who had no knowledge of his whereabouts for 24 hours.

Saudi activist Hussein Abu Zeid was not the only one kidnapped by security forces, he is among 14 young men that were kidnapped that night. Most of them were shot at and injured during the protests.

Saudi authorities have detained three activists for posting videos on YouTube denouncing the royal family’s corruption and complaining about dismal living standards and low wages.

The sentence against Mukhlif Al-Shammari, a well-known writer and activist, was imposed on 17 June 2013 by a Jeddah court that specializes in national security and terrorism cases and was upheld by a Riyadh criminal court on 4 March.

Saudi Arabia’s new terrorism law and a series of related royal decrees create a legal framework that appears to criminalize virtually all dissident thought or expression as terrorism.

The stall designated for the Arab Network for Research and Publishing, a leading Saudi publishing house, was closed down by the management of the Riyadh International Book Fair and the works of the late poet Mahmoud Darwish, one of the Arab world’s most prominent poets, were removed from the fair.

Police killed Hussein Al-Faraj during a raid on the town of Al-Awamiyah with the aim of locating participants in a long series of anti-government protests in the region. Reporters Without Borders calls for an investigation into the disputed circumstances surrounding his death.

Raef Badawi’s wife, Ensar Haider, spoke to PEN International about her husband’s case and her family’s experience since his arrest.

Journalist and TV presenter Wajdi Al Ghazzawi was sentenced on 4 February to 12 years in prison and a 20-year travel ban after his sentence is completed.

The Council of Ministers passed the Penal Law for Crimes of Terrorism and its Financing (the “terrorism law”) on December 16, 2013, and it awaits King Abdullah’s promulgation by royal decree to go into effect.