Personal information
- Sex: Male
- Area of activity: Academic
- Place of residence: Jeddah
Mohammed al-Ghamidi is a retired school teacher and brother of prominent Saudi dissident Saeed al-Ghamidi.
Arrest and jail information
- Prison: Al-Ha’ir Prison, Riyadh
- Date of arrest: 11 June 2022
- Manner of arrest: Saudi security forces arrested al-Ghamidi in front of his wife and children outside their home in Mecca. They took him to al-Dhahban Prison, north of Jeddah, where he was held in solitary confinement for four months. His family was unable to contact him during this period and he did not have access to a lawyer. The authorities later transferred al-Ghamdi to the al-Ha’ir Prison in Riyadh.
Trial information
- Charges: Al-Ghamidi has been sentenced a man to death based solely on his Twitter, and YouTube activity. The charges are “describing the King or the Crown Prince in a way that undermines religion or justice”, “supporting a terrorist ideology, "Communication with a terrorist entity”, and "Publishing false news with the intention of executing a terrorist crime". Al-Ghamdi’s trial judgment states that he used his accounts on Twitter and YouTube to commit his “crimes.”
- Court: Specialised Criminal Court (SCC)
- Verdict: Death sentence
- Date of verdict: 10 July 2023
Violations
- Arbitrary arrest/ detention ,
- Denied contact with family ,
- Denied access to a lawyer ,
- Torture and ill-treatment ,
- Observers denied access to court hearings ,
- Denied access to healthcare
Violation details
Al-Ghamidi was arrested in front of his family, without a warrant. He was forcibly disappeared for four months before contacting his family, and was held in solitary confinementTimeline
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10 July 2023 - He was sentenced to death. -
June - September 2022 - He was forcibly disappeared for four months before contacting his family. -
11 June 2022 - Saudi security forces arrested al-Ghamidi in front of his wife and children outside their home in Mecca.
