Alaa Brinji
Alaa Brinji
Personal information
Name: Alaa Brinji
Name in Arabic: علاء الدين برنجي
Date of Birth: 22 July 1977
Gender: Male
Marital status: Married
Profession: Journalist
Place of residence: Dammam
Arrest and jail information
Date of arrest:12 May 2014
Manner of arrest: Arrested by security forces at passport control on the Saudi-Bahrain causeway on his way to Bahrain with his family
Where held: Al-Mabaheth (General Investigations Directorate), Dammam
Trial information
Alleged crimes: A series of allegedly insulting tweets and Facebook posts.
Victim's charges: Brinji was convicted of violating article 6 of the cyber-crime law, mocking religious figures and Saudi leaders, and “inciting public opinion.” His alleged crimes also included “accusing members of the security forces of killing demonstrators” in the eastern city of Awamia.
Court: Specialised Criminal Court
Verdict: 7-year prison sentence, 8-year travel ban, a fine of 50,000 Saudi riyals and forced to close his Twitter account
Date of verdict: 7-year prison sentence, 8-year travel ban, a fine of 50,000 Saudi riyals and forced to close his Twitter account
Updates on trial: Birinji had two trials. The first verdict was a 5 years sentence to prison. However, the prosecution office appealed the sentence and he was tried in court for the second time. A second verdict was made to increased his sentence to impose further punishments
Previous arrests:
Human Rights Violations
Violations: Arbitrary arrest/ detention, Enforced disappearance, Denied contact with family, Denied access to a lawyer, Placed in Solitary confinement
Violation details: Birinji disappeared for 50 days and was placed in solitary confinement before being allowed to make his first phone call. Although he was legally allowed to make 1 phone call every week and allowed to have visitors. Recently, after the COVID-19 lockdown, the authorities have imposed restriction on the phone calls. in Which it is only to be made during the presence of the officers. However, no restrictions impost on visits.
References
Reference 1: https://alqst.org/prisonersofconscience/alaa-brinji
Reference 2: https://rsf.org/en/news/alaa-brinji-saudi-newspaper-reporter-completes-fourth-year-jail-tweets
Reference 3: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/03/saudi-arabia-journalist-sentenced-to-five-years-in-prison-for-tweets-latest-victim-of-ruthless-crackdown/
Reference 4: https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/11/04/high-cost-change/repression-under-saudi-crown-prince-tarnishes-reforms
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