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Sheikh Khalid Mohammad Hamad Al Rashid is a Saudi Arabian citizen who was arrested in the mid 2000's for his religious expression and associations.

Opinions on the date and reason for Al Rashid's arrest differ. Humans rights organisation Alkarama allege that the Sheikh was arrested on 19 March 2006 in Mecca, during the religious pilgrimage known as Umrah, and state that his family believe the reason for his arrest to be his public comments on government policy. They also note his connection with the so-called "Movement of Reformers" as being a possible reason for his detention. Sanad, another human rights organisation, instead state that he was arrested in 2005 following a sermon protesting Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

In 2007, the OHCHR Working Group on Arbitrary Detention expressed the opinion that the detention of Al Rashid is based solely on his political activities and is thus in contravention of articles 9 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Al Rashid was originally sentenced to five years in the prison Al-Hair in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but following his appeal in 2009 his sentence was tripled to 15 years. Although his original sentence ended in 2020, his release was delayed and he was instead transferred to the General Directorate of Investigation in November 2021, where he was retried in February 2022 and received an additional sentence of eight more years in prison. In November of the same year the Court of Appeal harshened his sentence further, adding another 17 years for a total of 40 years in prison.

References

1. "Khaled Al-Rashed | USCIRF". www.uscirf.gov. 8 October 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
2. ^ "Saudi Arabia: Khaled Al-Rashed sentenced to 15 years in prison after an expedited trial | Alkarama". www.alkarama.org. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
3. ^ "Press release: Dr Khaled Al-Rashed - Sanad Organization". 26 February 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
4. "OPINION No. 4/2007 (SAUDI ARABIA)" (PDF). OHCHR.org. 16 January 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
5. "Increasing the prison term of the detainee, Khaled Al-Rashed, to 40 years - Sanad Organization". 18 November 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2024.

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