Alaa Brinji

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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