Saudi Arabia: British citizen detained without charge for more than four years

Three and a half years ago, on 8 August 2007, Abdul Hakim Gellani, a British citizen and businessman of Yemeni heritage, was abducted by Saudi intelligence services from Al-Mordjane hotel in Mecca. He disappeared. On 25 September 2007, the Saudi authorities acknowledged his arrest but not his location. In February 2008, the government released a statement accusing him of money laundering. In August 2008, the Saudi authorities claimed that he "will be referred to the judiciary". He remains imprisoned without charge or trial in Abha prison.

Alkarama today called on the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression to remind the Saudi government that their continued detention of Mr Gellani is in violation to Saudi and international law.

Background

Mr Gellani was first arrested by Saudi intelligence services at a hotel in Mecca after Hajj in November 2005. He was held for eight months without charge or trial and subjected to severe physical and psychological torture. After attention from the British Consulate the tortured stopped, but he remained in custody. In May 2006, Mr Gellani began a hunger strike to protest his unlawful detention, hoping for release or at least charge or trial. He was released on 19 July 2006. He was never even charged.

Mr Gellani was released on bail but Saudi authorities had confiscated his UK passport so he could not leave or return home. He obtained a new UK passport in Jeddah but this was also confiscated by Saudi authorities. Frustrated at the impasse, Mr Gellani's wife arranged to relocate herself and their children, the youngest only a few months old, to Riyadh so they could be together until the situation resolved.

Al-Jazeera interview prompts re-arrest

In August 2007 Mr Gellani was interviewed by Al-Jazeera. He discussed his experience of poor prison conditions, torture and UK passport confiscation. A few days later Mr Gellani was talking by phone to his wife confirming the family's imminent arrival in Riyadh when the security services re-arrested him, confiscated his phone and took him to an unknown location. The authorities denied any knowledge of him, stating that Mr Gellani "has not been arrested and was not being detained". For the first three months, in apparent punishment for criticism he made in the Al-Jazeera interview, he was kept in a tiny cell unable to stand.

Since then, Mr Gellani has been moved to three different prisons and is now at Abha prison. He has not been charged or tried in over four years of detention.

Impact on family

British citizens in the UK, the Gellani family is devastated. On the day of his arrest, his mother had a stroke from the shock and remains chronically ill. Mr Gellani is permitted to call his wife and three children irregularly for about five minutes at a time, but close monitoring by guards means open discussion is not possible.