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Waleed Abulkhair in November 2012 | |
Born | (1979-06-17) 17 June 1979 (age 45) Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
Occupation(s) | Lawyer and human rights activist |
Years active | 2007-present |
Spouse | Samar Badawi |
Waleed Sami Abulkhair (Template:Lang-ar) is a Saudi Arabian lawyer and human rights activist, and the head of the "Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia" (MHRSA) organization. He was listed by Forbes magazine as one of Top 100 Most Influential Arabs on Twitter. He is the first activist to be prosecuted by the Terrorism Law. He was arrested on 15 April 2014 and was sent to Alhair "political prison" while prosecution. On July 6, 2014, Abulkhair was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Specialized Criminal Court.
Early life and education
Waleed was born in Jeddah, west of Saudi Arabia. He comes from a Hejazi family of judges and Imams of the Holy Mosque. One of them is Abdullah Ahmed Murdad AbuAlkhair who taught in the Holy Mosque of Makkah. His class was near Alsafa door. He has a great knowledge in religious sciences, history and biographies. He became a judge in Makkah in the last days of Alshareef Hussain Bin Ali era until he died. Then he became the head of preachers and an Imam in the Holy Mosque.
He was killed in Taif in Truba battle. He has a famous book entitled " Spreading Light and Flowers in the Biographies of the Great Men of Makkah from 10th to 11th Centuries.
Waleed's grandfather Mohammed Saeed AbuAlkhair was one of Jeddah commissioner who signed the agreement with King AbdulAziz under the condition that ruling Hejaz must be self-governing under the guidance of the Holy Quran and prophets sayings and the four leading Imams guidance.
Waleed has got his Bachelors Degree in 2003 in Arabic Language from King AbduAziz University. In 2009, he got his Master Degree in the Islamic law from Alyarmook University in Jordan after approving his thesis ( Affinities and Differences in the Evidences and Reasons and Judgements: a Consolidating applicable and Comparative Study). The Thesis was supervised by Dr. AbdulJaleel Zuhair Thamrah. Waleed has memorized the Holy Quran by heart and got a license from Shaikh Obaid Allah AlAfqani and was approved by the Teaching Board of the Holy Mosque in Madinah.
Profession and human rights activism
In 2007 Waleed Abulkhair began his career in the legal profession, where he joined lawyer Essam Basrawi and worked in his office.
In the same year, Waleed with some activists launched a statement entitled (Features of the way of a constitutional monarchy), where it explicitly demanded the ruling family in Saudi Arabia to change the current regime of absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy.
Waleed Abulkhair took defense of a number of defendants in the case of Jeddah reformers, including Dr. Mossa bin Mohammed Al-Qarni and Dr. Saud al-Hashimi and Dr. Abdul Rahman al-Shumaimri, who were arrested in February 2007. He filed a lawsuit on June 22, 2009 against the Interior Ministry because of detention for his client without charge He has also been hired by the British Embassy in Saudi Arabia to defend one of its nationals detained by Saudi authorities.
According to Human Rights Watch his father has received in July 2009 threats from the investigation Dept that his son Waleed must stop his activity However, the lawsuit, filed passed in 2010, after the Ministry of Interior announced its charges against Prof. Shumaimri and referred him to trial. Abulkhair was one of those who signed a famous petition called “Towards A state of Rights and Conistitution”
In 2008, Waleed organized what he called "the first hunger strike campaign in Saudi Arabia for human rights", which lasted for 48 hours and were demanding the release of detainees.
He is the founder of Monitor for Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, which aims to the Protection of activists, and monitoring the human rights situation. In December 2008 the Monitor site was blocked, so the official page was transformed to Facebook, but the page was also blocked in May 2009 in 2012, Waleed registered and licensed the Monitor at the Canadian Ministry of Labor to be the first Saudi human rights organization licensed abroad,. Waleed Abulkhair sent a letter to King demanded the recognition of the organization in Saudi Arabia, the Royal Court replied by transmitting the request to the Interior Ministry, which opened an investigation about the organization.
He was a lawyer for the founder of the liberal network Raif Badawi who is accused of the establishment of the Liberal network and "commit violations of legitimacy" and "insulting the Divine self."
Waleed was a prominent role in the voluntary processes that got during the Jeddah torrents where he established with some young activists a page on the social networking "Facebook" entitled (Save Jeddah Campaign) which were effective means of communication between young people in the time of crisis in the rescue operations.
In March 2012, Waleed registered in the six-week course titled "Democratic leaders" at Syracuse University in New York sponsored by the US State Department, but the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution in Jeddah summoned him and told him that he was banned from traveling. In January 25, 2013 Samar Badawi received on behalf of her husband, Waleed the Olof Palme Prize in Sweden as a recognition for his "strong and continuous struggle and characterized by selfless in order to promote respect for human rights and civil rights for both men and women", Then, Waleed gave the prize to activist Abdullah al-Hamid as a gift. Waleed Abulkhair was arrested on April 15 - 2014 by court order from the judge before the end of the trial.
Samar Badawi case
Samar Badawi is a Saudi woman who was detained in jail for seven months because of the accusations of not obeying her father. Waleed adopted her case and defended her in Saudi courts, and launched a campaign to demand her release by using various social media such as "Twitter" and "Facebook". In addition to create a special blog to publish all updates and documents related to the case. After three weeks, the campaign has achieved its goals and Badawi was released from prison. Samar Badawi is today the wife of Waleed Abulkhair.
Raif Badawi case
He was a lawyer for Raif Badawi before detention when he was sentenced to death for insulting religion but he dropped the case and then directly he was detained and Raif was sentenced to jail.
Raif Badawi and Samar Badawi are brothers.
Media presence
Waleed conducted interviews with international channels, including the meeting which was conducted by Kevin Sliven to the Washington Post, and Jacob Timblin for the Times magazine, and Pierre Pray for Le Figaro newspaper, and Frank Gardner for the BBC. Waleed also wrote several articles for the world newspaper, including two essays for The Washington Post first titled "steadfastness towards free Saudi state." and the other entitled "prison sentence for peaceful activity in Saudi Arabia." He also wrote an article entitled "obstacle in front of Saudis and fear." published by the Institute for War and Peace Reports, and wrote an article published in the MSNBC site entitled "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and stifle dissent in the name of combating terrorism."
Waleed wrote over 300 articles in the local newspapers in Arabic he talked in all various legal and human rights issues.
Amnesty International published the last article written by Waleed Abulkhair before his imprisonment entitled "Even from prison, you can still light a candle" ” after his imprisonment.
The last meeting with him before his arrest was with Alasr magazine, in which he stated that "the ACPRA association is no longer an association only, but is an idea, and the idea is bulletproof, and resist arrests and repression. It is an excuse to God and to the people. ACPRA is a historical case in this spot of world to improve that people have not liked all this injustice and stood bravely against it "He added a sort of speech saying:" We sacrifice for so long dear Friends, it is a difficult time in which our sincerity and loyalty to our principles and colleagues are tested. This time we will not realize the value of our actions, but after a while, as we do not realize the value of love until we give it, then we can reach the noble goals and surrender to the pain. Blessed are those who meet our free colleagues. To my mother and my father and the rest of my family: I do not know if I’m going to be released after 3 months or stay longer, but what I'm doing is the right thing, I did not let down freedom on which I was raised. So be proud, make sure that your son did not steal, loot or hypocrite, your son told the oppressor this is unfair.. "
Representation at the international level
Waleed has built a global reputation as a reliable and certified source for the international community on human rights issues in Saudi Arabia in 2010. He has attended two meetings under the sponsorship of the Organization of Bridging in the Gulf, the first held in the European Parliament to discuss the human rights situation in the Gulf States, and the second was held in Kuwait and was on the status of human rights activists in the Gulf states. He also attended a conference held by the Human Rights Watch in Bahrain. He also attended a meeting with a number of European diplomats sponsored by Front Line Defenders Org to discuss human rights issues in the Gulf states. In the same year, Waleed has developed his skills in human rights work by attending a course entitled to monitor and document human rights violations, organized by the Bahrain Human Rights Society in cooperation with the Scandinavian Organization for Human Rights. He also participated in the summit of the Alliance of Youth Movements, which was held in Mexico. In addition, he got the coach in human rights training and a license from the Human Rights Information Center in Yemen.
Smood, the weekly salon
As a reaction to the Saudi authorities decision to shut down "Bridges Café" in Jeddah, which was a meeting point for Saudi youth to talk and discuss several topics, Abu al-Khair started a weekly gathering in his living room, hosting a few dozen of people, most of them politically engaged Saudi youth from different backgrounds. Topics focus on political, religious and human rights issues, in addition to cultural and intellectual subjects. The salon is named “Smood” (صمود), an Arabic word that can be translated as “resistance” or “steadfastness.”
Smood was attacked heavily by many conservatives on the social media and on TV. It has been claimed that the salon is encouraging atheism and skepticism, especially after Hamza Kashgari’s case knowing that he was a personal friend of Abu al-Khair and many other regular visitors to the meetings. One day, few conservatives visited Smood and secretly recorded the discussion without the attendees permission; on the next day, they tweeted negatively about the topics discussed and the type of people attending Smood. Moreover, they have contacted a TV show and requested from the government and the Hai'ia to take serious actions against such meetings. Abulkhair defended his salon by saying that he is offering the freedom of speech, the freedom of belief and the freedom of expression, which are things that cannot be provided outside the door of his house.
Waleed Talks
Following his imprisonment, a series of English-subtitled videos, which had been shot before, were released explaining his views. The first video was published on May 25, 2014 in which he talked about his view on freedom. In the video, Abulkhair says:
I might get worried only about my wife and my family but in all what happened and will happen to me I am enjoying because I feel I am practicing what makes me happy, which is my freedom.
The second video, published on August 4, 2014, was entitled Why did I deny the legitimacy of the Specialized Criminal Court? in which Abulkhair strongly criticized the court hearing his case because it was "not independent" and strongly tired to the executive bodies.
Trial
Abulkhair was facing two trials. On February 4, 2014, the Court of Appeals in Mekkah, approved a 3-month sentence for charges of contempt of the judiciary against Abulkhair. However, Waleed remained free.
On April 15, 2014, Waleed got arrested in the Specialized Criminal Court when he was attending the fifth session of the trial. His family did not receive any news about him until the next day, when his wife went to the court and was told that he had been arrested and sent to Al-Ha'ir Prison. His wife then visited Al-Ha'ir Prison and was denied speaking to him.
The second trial of Abulkhair started on November 4, 2013 and the charges included breaking allegiance to the ruler, disrespecting the authorities, creating an unauthorized association and supervising it (MHRSA), contributing to the establishment of another (ACPRA) and inciting the public opinion. These charges had already been considered in Jeddah Court at the first trial which issued his 3-month sentence.
On 22 April 2014, one week after his arrest, his wife said that he was under "torture for political purposes."
Sentence
On July 7, 2014, Abulkhair was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, followed by 15 years of ban on travel. The Specialized Criminal Court in Jiddah found him guilty of "undermining the regime and officials", "inciting public opinion" and "insulting the judiciary." In addition, Abulkhair was fined 200,000 riyals (£31,110).
The ruling was criticized by international human rights organizations such as HRW, Reporters Without Borders, Amnesty International. In addition, it was criticized by both the U.S. Department of State and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Publications
- Our steadfast pursuit of a freer Saudi Arabia, Washington Post, April 2012.
- Saudis Stymied by Fear, Institute for War & Peace Reporting, July 2011.
- "Jailed in Saudi Arabia for peaceful activism", Washington Post, November 2013.
Additionally, Abulkhair has published over 300 articles in Saudi newspapers concerning legal reforms and human rights issues.
See also
External links
- Saudi Arabia is stifling dissent in the name of counter-terrorism by Waleed Abulkhair, published by MSNBC.
- Saudi anti-terrorism law casts wide net by Abdulmajeed al-Buluwi, published by Al-Monitor.
- Saudi activists 'hibernate' after series of arrests by Eman al-Nafjan, published by Al-Monitor.
- Saudi Arabia’s Duplicitous Legalism by Eman al-Nafjan, published by The New York Times.
- Waleed Abulkhair: Imprisoned! by Elham Manea, published in The Huffington Post.
- Saudi Activist Jailed for ‘Inciting Public Opinion’ by Ahmed al-Omran, published in The Wall Street Journal.
- Saudi Arabia continues its outrageous repression of human rights activists by the editorial board of The Washington Post.
References
- ^ Human Rights Watch. 2014-07-07 https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/07/saudi-arabia-15-year-sentence-prominent-activist. Retrieved 2014-07-19.
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(help) - http://www.alhejaz.org/aalam/1113001.htm.
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(help) - https://twitter.com/WaleedAbulkhair/status/366145499910266880/.
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(help) - http://repository.yu.edu.jo/handle/123456789/553.
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(help) - ^ "Saudi Arabia – Increasing threats and harassment against human rights defender, Mr Waleed Sami Abu-Alkhair". frontlinedefenders.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia: Drop Charges Against Human Rights Lawyer".
- "Saudi Arabia: Rights Groups Blocked From Operating".
- "Saudi Arabia- Head of Monitor of Human Rights at risk of being targeted by authorities following successful registration of the organization in Canada".
- "IN ARABIC: أبو الخير: النطق بالحكم في قضية رائف بدوي الأثنين المقبل".
- "Saudi Arabian human rights lawyer banned from travelling to US".
- "Saudi and Tunisian Human Rights Defenders Awarded the 2012 Olof Palme Prize".
- "Saudi Arabia / Sweden- Human Rights Defender Waleed Sami Abu Al-Khair Awarded the 2012 Olof Palme Prize".
- "Saudi Arabia: Free Prominent Rights Activist".
- "samar story".
- "Steadfast in pursuing a freer Saudi Arabia".
- "Sentenced in Saudi Arabia for peaceful activism".
- "Saudi Arabia is stifling dissent in the name of counter-terrorism".
- "'Even from prison, you can still light a candle'".
- "IN ARABIC: الحقوقي وليد أبو الخير مترقبا لحظة اعتقاله: إما الصمود أو الاستسلام".
- Templin, Jacob (12 July 2012). "In Saudi Arabia, Activists Speak Out Online and in Private". TIME.com. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
- "وليد ابوالخير و ديوانيه الصمود ديوانيه الألحاد والكفر". YouTube (in Arabic). 6 March 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
- "وليد أبو الخير يتحدث (1) ـ عن الحرية". Retrieved 20150204.
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(help) - "وليد أبو الخير يتحدث (2) ـ لماذا لم يعترف بالمحكمة الأمنية المتخصصة؟". Retrieved 20150204.
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(help) - ^ "Saudi Arabia: Free Prominent Rights Activist". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
- Template:Ar icon ""أكثر السعوديات شجاعة" تدافع عن زوجها المعتقل". BBC. Retrieved 2014-05-03.
- http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/waleed-abulkhair-given-15-years-activism-who-influential-saudi-human-rights-lawyer-1455611
- JAILED AND ON TRIAL FOR REPORTING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS. Reporters Without Borders. 20 June 2014.
- "New anti-terror law used to imprison Saudi Arabian human rights activist". Amnesty International. 2014-07-07. Retrieved 2014-07-19.
- "US 'troubled' by jailing of Saudi rights activist". Yahoo! News. 2014-07-07. Retrieved 2014-07-19.
- Sentencing of Saudi Human Rights Lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair. U.S. Department of State. 7 July 2014.
- "Saudi Arabia: Pillay concerned by harsh sentences against human rights defenders". Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 2014-07-10. Retrieved 2014-07-19.
- "Our steadfast pursuit of a freer Saudi Arabia". Washington Post. April 20, 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
- "Saudis Stymied by Fear". Institute for War & Peace Reporting. 1 July 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2013.