Our “Testimony” series highlights personal accounts of abuses experienced in Saudi Arabia. Each testimony is presented in the victims’ own words and reflects their personal experiences and perspectives, not those of ALQST.

"I wish to remain anonymous for security reasons. 

I am 40 years old (as of October 2025), and a citizen of the European Union. I would like to report on my arbitrary detention in Saudi Arabia. With this report I wish to document my experiences, describe the severe psychological consequences, and draw attention to the massive political repression in Saudi Arabia. I hope for support, legal assessment, and international attention to these conditions.

I would also like to ask for support for my fellow inmate Amr Abdelfattah (a French citizen), unjustly imprisoned in a political prison.

Arrest 

I was in Saudi Arabia between 2018 and November 2023 for study purposes. On 18 November 2023, I was arrested in Medina by Presidential Security without any summons or formal charges. The arrest itself served as a demonstration of power and a means of intimidating the local population. I was at the building for the midday prayer with my three-year-old daughter, and saw a large number of police vehicles (about 15) as well as several SUVs with tinted windows. At first I wondered what might have happened, when a plainclothes officer, accompanied by heavily armed masked men, asked for my ID and then arrested me.

I was immediately asked, on site, for the PIN of my mobile device, which I provided without hesitation because I had nothing to hide. I was first taken to my apartment, where my wife and my three daughters were kept locked in another room. After searching, all of my electronic devices were confiscated. Next, my vehicle was searched in my presence. Nothing suspicious was found.

Detention in Medina 

I was initially placed in a grey-coloured cell with a very small window, just big enough to distinguish day from night, and a toilet and a sink. It was extremely cold. I was monitored 24/7 by video camera, and spent 23 days in solitary confinement. Food was placed through the door, and I had no contact with other people, except for the detective who interrogated me multiple times. I was handcuffed and shackled and led about 100 metres down the corridor. His questions were about individuals in my country, the mosques I would visit there, and the scholars whose lectures I attended in the great mosque in Medina (Masjid An-Nabawi). When I asked what I was being accused of, what crime I had committed, and why I was being deprived of my freedom, I received no answer.

During the second interrogation I was asked why I didn’t have Facebook, Twitter or any social media accounts. I answered that I had no time for such things, and that I was there to study, not to waste my time on social media.

Transfer to Dhahban Prison, Jeddah 

After 23 days of solitary confinement, I was put on a small plane with a mask over my head. A young person of about 13-14 years old and several other inmates were also on board. I know this because the mask was removed from the young person, and he clearly looked very young. I could see his face through a small gap in my mask. The other detained passengers were all wearing masks over their heads and, like me, had their hands and feet shackled. I was then transferred to Dhahban political prison in Jeddah.

I endured another 17 days of solitary confinement under constant video surveillance, similar to the previous prison. During this time in solitary confinement I was allowed only two short phone calls, one about a minute long in which I was told to speak Arabic (although my wife does not speak it well). While there, I was asked for access credentials to my email accounts, which I provided immediately because I knew I had done nothing wrong and had nothing to hide. 

This was followed by nine months of detention in a room shared between 14 people in filthy, inhumane conditions. There was only one functional shower and toilet between us, and only one nail clipper for all inmates (thus posing a high risk of infection) handed out once every three weeks. There was no privacy, and we were kept under constant video surveillance. We were allowed outdoor time only 2-3 times per week, each time for a maximum of 30 minutes. 

After being moved to the shared room, I was allowed 15 minutes of phone time per week, and received two family visits (wife and children), each lasting 45 minutes. Visits took place through a glass partition, and communication was via telephone. These visits were emotionally extremely distressing, especially for me as a father.

I was also visited in prison by a consulate representative from my country. Despite the visit, no steps were taken to shorten my detention or improve my conditions. The presence of the consul was merely symbolic – my situation remained unchanged.

I remained there until my deportation on 16 September 2024.

The overall experience caused severe psychological trauma: insomnia, anxiety, depression, difficulty concentrating, and the ongoing feeling of being followed, watched, and unable to find peace even in freedom.

The scale of political imprisonment in Saudi Arabia 

I was assigned prison number (number withheld to protect the victim’s identity). A fellow inmate, French citizen Amr Abdelfattah, with whom I shared the cell for about three months, had the number (number- larger than 6000- also withheld). 

These numbers refer to the Islamic year 1445 (Hijri), which corresponds to the period from July 2023 to June 2024. This suggests  that more than 6,000 political prisoners were registered in just one Islamic year using this numbering system alone.

This shows the massive and systematic scale of political imprisonment. In this system, inmates are reduced to mere numbers – their identity erased, their names removed from public memory. It is like Guantanamo: a system of oppression, even targeting Saudi citizens.

More about Amr Abdelfattah

Amr Abdelfattah, a French citizen, was arrested due to visa irregularities after he had apparently fallen victim to visa scammers and hence was performing pilgrimage without a regular permit. At the entrance of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, he told a soldier that Islamic scholars permit making hajj with or without visa – and that some of these scholars were themselves imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. For this he was immediately arrested and transferred to Dhahban Prison, where I met him.

During the two months that we spent together, Abdelfattah was repeatedly summoned for interrogation. He told me he was under intense pressure to reveal the PIN of his phone. The detective threatened him with 15 years in prison if he did not provide it. This was part of a campaign of intimidation.

He could not and did not want to give up his PIN, as the phone contained sensitive data belonging to his employers and contractual partners – some based in the European Union and the United States – and disclosing such data is a criminal offence under their laws.

Even though the French consulate visited him, this had no effect on his release or his prison conditions. He repeatedly asked for his own nail clipper out of fear of hepatitis, and refused to use the communal one. When he was not given one, desperation forced him to bite his own fingernails and toenails with his teeth.

Other cases of political prisoners

In prison I met many fellow inmates with similar stories:

• Mohamed X had spray-painted over a picture of the king, and was sentenced to 13 years.
   
• Dr Mohamed XY, a dentist, was imprisoned for retweeting an image of a Palestinian child – with a caption he apparently hadn’t even read..
   
• Dr Mohamed, an anesthesiologist, “liked” a post calling [former Egyptian president] Mohamed Morsi a martyr and [current president] Abdelfattah el-Sisi a murderer, for which he received three years in prison. Other social media comments, likes and religious posts led to a combined sentence of over 20 years.
   
• Mohamed XX posted a picture of children in Gaza and praise for Palestinian politicians, for which the authorities treated him as a supporter of terrorism. Mohamed XX was a world-renowned karate champion and a completely apolitical athlete.

These cases show it takes just a few words, a like or a single comment – and one can be treated as a political prisoner.

I was placed in a wing for foreigners; there were about 14 rooms in that wing. The prison had over 20 such wings. One was for women and one for children. I personally saw many children and some women in the prison clinic.

Conclusion and appeal for help

I endured ten months of political imprisonment in Saudi Arabia, without charge and without a verdict.

The psychological and emotional consequences remain with me to this day. I am unable to work and have been under psychological treatment ever since.

I therefore appeal for:

• documentation of my case and especially support for Amr Abdelfattah, who is unjustly imprisoned for political reasons – as are many others.
   
• public attention and international intervention so that these lawless detention conditions are investigated and brought to an end.

This testimony is above all meant to help end injustice against innocent people.

Thank you sincerely for your attention, your time, and any help you can provide."