Project Description
Natheer al-Majed
Natheer al-Majed
Natheer Al-Majed is a Saudi writer who has raised issues related to human rights for several years in Saudi Arabia. He writes for a number of sites including Rased news network, Al-Hiwar Al-Nutamaden, Aram, Duroub and many other cultural and intellectual.
The Riyadh Penal Court in Saudi Arabia sentenced Mr. Natheer Al-Majed to seven years in prison and a subsequent seven-year travel ban for charges that include inter alia writing articles against the Saudi regime and participating in protests. The human rights defender was arrested earlier that day and is currently being held in Al-Ha’er prison in Riyadh. In the week of 23 January, the family of the Natheer Al-Majed sent a request to the Saudi authorities to approve the appointment of a defence lawyer to aid in the appeal of his case.
Personal information
Name: Natheer al-Majed
Name in Arabic: نذير الماجد
Date of Birth: Unknown
Gender: Male
Marital status: --
Profession: Writer and Human rights activist
Place of residence: Al-Qatif
Arrest and jail information
Date of arrest:13 April 2011
Manner of arrest: Arrested from the court after the judge read the verdict
Where held: Al-Mabaheth (General Investigations Directorate), Dammam
Trial information
Alleged crimes: Nadhir al-Majid is serving a seven-year sentence in relation to an opinion article penned for an Arabic-language magazine defending protests in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province city of al-Qatif. He was detained in 2017 on the same day he was convicted.
Victim's charges: On January 18, 2017, a Riyadh court convicted al-Majid of "slandering the ruler and breaking allegiance with him," and "sending a group of electronic messages to a number of media outlets and satellite TV channels and human rights organizations," according to news reports.
Court: --
Verdict: Sentenced to seven years in prison
Date of verdict: Sentenced to seven years in prison
Updates on trial: The court sentenced the columnist to seven years in prison, a subsequent seven-year travel ban, and a fine of 100,000 Saudi riyals (US$26,662), according to news reports.
Previous arrests: The journalist had been imprisoned before. Security forces arrested al-Majid on April 13, 2011, at the school where he worked in Al-Khobar, according to news reports. Agents from Saudi Arabia’s General Investigations Department raided his house the same day, and confiscated his laptop and other belongings, according to reports. Authorities kept al-Majid in detention for the next 15 months, five of which he spent in solitary confinement, according to the news reports and the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, a Cairo-based human rights organization. On July 26, 2012, a court ordered his release, pending trial, according to news reports.
Human Rights Violations
Violations: Arbitrary arrest/ detention, Solitary confinement
Violation details: The Geneva Council for Rights and Liberties, a Gulf-focused human rights group, reported on August 16, 2019, that al-Majid’s health had deteriorated in prison due to the effects of physical and psychological abuse and solitary confinement.
References
Reference 1: https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/natheer-al-majed-sentenced-seven-years-prison-and-subsequent-seven-year-travel-ban
Reference 2: https://cpj.org/data/people/nadhir-al-majid/
Reference 3: https://alqst.org/prisonersofconscience/nadhir-al-majed
Reference 4: None
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