Saudi upholds 7 year term for rights activist

A Saudi human rights activist’s appeal against a seven year sentence passed earlier in the year for writing articles and taking part in demonstrations has been denied by the country’s appeal court.

Nadhir Al-Majid, 40, was informed by the penal authorities three weeks ago that an appeals court in Riyadh had confirmed the sentence passed in January, reported the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Al-Majid, who is a well-known writer and teacher who has published many articles in various Arabic newspapers and electronic websites, was also banned from leaving the country after his release and fined 100,000 riyals ($26,650).

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Last January, the Specialised Criminal Court in Riyadh sentenced Al-Majid to seven years in prison. It was reported at the time that Al-Majid was alone during the hearing and unaccompanied by his lawyer.

He faced many charges including failing to obey the ruler, participating in demonstrations, writing articles supporting protests (dating back to 2007), in addition to having contact with correspondents of foreign news agencies

the GCHR said.

In 2011, the New York-based Human Rights Watch placed Al-Majid on a list of more than 160 people arrested in the Gulf kingdom.

GCHR believes that the arrest, detention, trial and seven-year prison sentence is “solely related to his work in defence of human rights and in particular his defence of freedom of assembly in Saudi Arabia”.