Abdullah al-Hamid

Abdullah Hamid Ali al-Hamid (1950-2020) or Abu Bilal was a Saudi poet, Arabic professor, human rights activist and a co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA). The demonstration took place in front of Buraidah prison, in central Saudi Arabia. Demonstrations in Saudi's eastern province by members of the Shiite minority group calling for the release of prisoners have at times turned deadly. In 2018, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, together with other jailed activists and Waleed Abulkhair for "their visionary and courageous efforts, guided by universal human rights principles, to reform the totalitarian political system in Saudi Arabia." The court also ordered the ACRPA to be closed, their funds confiscated, and their social media shut down. Al-Faleh is a member of the Paris-based Arab Commission for Human Rights.

Abdulaziz al-Hussan, who defended Mohammad al-Qahtani and Abdullah al-Hamid, was detained and interrogated in the spring of 2013, shortly after posting to Twitter about his clients’ detention conditions. Rather than face a travel ban, which are typically imposed on anyone arrested, Al-Hussan moved to Bloomington Indiana, as visiting scholar at Indiana University's Center for Constitutional Democracy.

International reaction On 7 September 2012, Amnesty International called for charges against al-Hamid and Mohammad al-Qahtani to be dropped, saying the case appeared to be "based solely on their legitimate work to defend human rights in Saudi Arabia and their criticism of the authorities." The organization called for a letter-writing campaign to the offices of the Saudi king and the minister of interior. In 2018, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award.

Death

In January 2020, al-Hamid, who had hypertension, was advised by a doctor that he needed open-heart surgery, but "prison authorities threatened to cut off his contact with his family if he told his relatives about his condition".

On 9 April 2020, al-Hamid was comatose and transferred to critical care after suffering a stroke, for which Amnesty International demanded his release. Shortly after, while still under detention on 24 April 2020, he died at the age of 69.