On 8 May 2023, a Saudi court decided to postpone the session of the academic and prominent lawyer, Mohammed bin Fahd Al Qahtani’s trial whose news was cut off before the end of his unfair sentence in November 2022.
The wife of the Saudi activist noted on Twitter that the Specialized Criminal Court postponed the trial session, the charges against him and the reasons for not bringing him to court remaining unknown. She added that he is maintained in detention and prevented to communicate with his family or lawyer.
On 10 May 2023, Alkarama submitted an urgent appeal to the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances to shed light on the fate of Aimidoula WAILI and Nuermaimaiti RUZE, Chinese citizens of Uyghurs origin, who have been missing since their transfer to the capital Riyadh in March 2023.
Saudi authorities have released Yemeni journalist Marwan Al Muraisy after nearly five years of arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and suffering inflicted on his family. The authorities decided to deport him to Yemen without granting him compensation for the violations he had suffered.
On 3 April 2023, Alkarama referred to the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions and the Special Rapporteur on torture the case of Abdulsamed Esmail Mohammed Salem, a Yemeni businessman tortured to death by members of the Saudi security services during his detention at the General Administration for Drug Control centre in Jazan (southwest).
Awad Al-Qarni, a 65-year-old law professor and prominent Saudi preacher, was arrested by the intelligence services (Mahabith) in 2017 during the massive crackdown on preachers, human rights defenders, journalists and businessmen including members of the royal family. He is accused of using social networks (Twitter and WhatsApp) to spread information interpreted as "hostile" to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Court of Appeals has, in retaliation, doubled the prison sentences of several relatives of the prominent preacher Safar bin Abdulrahman AL HAWALI for refuting the charges and refusing the injustice suffered.
According to Saudi human rights sources, the Court of Appeal issued a ruling to increase the sentence issued against Saadallah Al Hawali, brother of Dr. Safar Al Hawali, from 4 to 14 years.
Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Hamid, a human rights activist and member of the Association for Civil and Political Rights "ACPRA", was released by the Saudi authorities after serving nine years in prison following an unfair trial for his peaceful activism. However, he remains under a travel ban for another nine years.
