Saudi Arabia: Yahya Shaqibel arbitrarily detained 4 years after Malaysia deportation

Mr Al Shaqibel was born in Saudi Arabia in 1980, and lived there until he moved back to Yemen indefinitely in 2006. After having cancelled his residency and followed all the required legal procedures to leave the country, he settled in Sana'a where he opened a computer shop.

At the beginning of October 2009, Mr Shaqibel travelled to Malaysia to buy IT material for his business. On 9 October, Mr Shaqibel was arrested by unidentified Malaysian forces at the request of the Saudi intelligence services (Mabahith), without being informed of the reasons of his detention. After a month of interrogation in Malaysia, the Malaysian authorities did not open any legal proceedings against him, but informed Mr Shaqibel that he would be deported to Yemen.

However, on 15 November 2009 Mr Shaqibel realised that the plane supposed to return him to Sana'a was landing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Mr Shaqibel was arrested by the Mabahith for interrogation upon his arrival.

Following his arrest, Mr Al Shaqibel was interrogated during two months by the Mabahith. He was subjected to torture and ill-treatment during the investigation phase, including sleep deprivation and severe beatings. At the beginning of 2010, Mr Shaqibel was finally transferred from the Mabahith office where he had been interrogated, to Al-Hayer prison where he was detained in solitary confinement for a year, without the right to receive visits or to communicate with the outside world and without having access to a lawyer.

At the beginning of May 2013, more than three and a half years after his arrest, Mr Shaqibel was presented for the first time to the Specialised Criminal Court of Riyadh, a tribunal which has been criticised by numerous international human rights organisations for its lack of compliance with international fair trial standards.

Mr Al Shaqibel was accused of being a khariji - which means he was not following the same Sunni Islam than the official Saudi interpretation, as well as being an intermediary for Al-Qaeda, and financing terrorism.

Mr Al-Shaqibel denied all the accusations against him, stressing that no evidence was available to convict him. Moreover, he did not have access to any legal counsel until the first hearing held at the beginning of May 2013, when he was allowed to choose amongst a list of lawyers given to him by the judge. While his lawyer is now allowed to visit him in jail, Mr Al Shaqibel does not have the right to contact him from the prison.

After three court hearings, Mr Al Shaqibel was presented to the Court for the last hearing on 17 June, and is still waiting his verdict.