Waleed Abu al-Khair is a prominent lawyer and human rights defender in Saudi Arabia.
Through his work, he he has challenged the widespread attack on human rights in Saudi Arabia.
Now, after years of harassment, arrests, threats and court cases, Waleed is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence for his peaceful activism.
Since 2012, Saudi authorities have lead a ruthless crackdown on their critics, and hand out long prison sentences to those who dared to call for greater freedoms.
Waleed has represented many peaceful activists, including his brother-in-law, Raif Badawi, the blogger jailed and sentenced to 1,000 lashes.
Waleed was found guilty by a special counter-terrorism court of, among other farcical charges, insulting the judiciary, disobeying the ruler, and harming the reputation of the Kingdom.
Call for Waleed's immediate release and for all charges against him to be dropped so he can be reunited with his family.
Your Majesty, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud (Saudi Arabia)
I am very concerned for Waleed Abu al-Khair, a human rights lawyer who was sentenced to 15 years in jail by a counter-terrorism court after years of harassment, arrests, threats and court cases.
Respectfully, Majesty, I urge you to:
- Release Waleed Abu al-Khair immediately and unconditionally so that he can be with his family.
- Ensure Waleed is protected from torture and other ill-treatment and that all charges against him dropped and his sentence quashed.
- Stop harassing, intimidating and detaining peaceful activists and human rights defenders, including treating them as terrorists and trying them under the counter-terror law and before the counter-terror court.
[Your comment here]
Sincerely,
[Your name]
