Saud al-Hashimi

Saud Mukhtar al-Hashimi (, born 1964) is a Saudi Arabian doctor.

Biography Al-Hashimi graduated from King Abdulaziz University in 1988, then got his PhD from the King Faisal University in 1993. He worked as a doctor in Jeddah, he also was a member of World Organization of Family Doctors. He wrote many essays in Al Madina newspaper.

Arrest and trial Al-Hashimi was arrested in Jeddah in February 2007 along with eight other critics of the Saudi Arabian government (Musa al-Qirni, Suliaman al-Rashudi, Abdul Rahman Khan, Essam Basrawi, Saif al-Din al-Sharif, Fahd al-Qurshi, Abdul Rahman al-Shumayri) who planned to form a political party or human rights organization.

During his pre-trial detention, al-Hashimi went on hunger strike for a week, which reportedly caused his guards to strip him down to his underwear and leave him in a cold cell for several hours. According to the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), he was also tortured with electric shocks in November 2010. Amnesty International designated him a prisoner of conscience and stated that al-Hashimi had been jailed for "peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and association". Human Rights Watch criticized the Saudi Arabian government for keeping al-Hashimi as a "political prisoner", stating that "recycling political prisoners won't appease demands for democratic change".

The IHRC reported that as of February 2012, al-Hashimi continued to be kept in solitary confinement following his conviction. In October 2012, Amnesty International reported that al-Hashimi's mother was seriously ill and believed herself to be dying; the organization issued an appeal that he be allowed to visit her at the hospital.