Ruqayya Mohammed Al Mahareb
Ruqayya Mohammed Al Mahareb
Professor at Princes Noora University in Riyadh, published many islamic books and writes on her own blog http://www.dr-roqaia.com/index.php . She had recently started writing about corruption in Saudi Arabia and it is assumed she was arrested because of this new direction in her writings
Personal information
Name: Ruqayya Mohammed Al Mahareb
Name in Arabic: رقية المحارب
Date of Birth: 1 January 1962
Gender: Female
Marital status: Married
Profession: Academic
Place of residence: Riyadh
Arrest and jail information
Date of arrest:24 September 2017
Manner of arrest: Arrested from her home with her husband present
Where held: Riyadh - A-Ha’ir Prison
Trial information
Alleged crimes: Unknown
Victim's charges: A group of public charges broadcast by the Saudi media, in which public figures who were arrested were described as working for foreign parties against the security and interests of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia. All charges violate the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
Court: Criminal Court
Verdict: Released after 1.5 years in prison
Date of verdict: Released after 1.5 years in prison
Updates on trial: Unknown
Previous arrests:
Human Rights Violations
Violations: Arbitrary arrest/ detention, Denied contact with family , Denied access to a lawyer , Torture and ill-treatment , placed in solitary confinement
Violation details: Arbitrary arrest/ detention / torture / limited contact with her family / Not allowed access to a lawyer / After months from her arrest she was allowed a visit by her husband who claimed she was in a bad mental state with signs of torture on her physically. Placed in solitary confinement. Months after the end of the investigation, a high-ranking civilian met her in February 2019 and told her and the other women: Your issue will be resolved by the king personally, and we ask you to write a request for pardon and without this you will not be released. She was coerced to sign a request for pardon in order to be released. After signing it, she was surprised by the appointment of her in the terrorism court, and hours before the session the case was transferred to the Criminal Court.
References
Reference 1: None
Reference 2: https://www.watanserb.com/2018/09/20/%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%AA%D8%B7%D9%81%D9%88%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%AD%D8%B6%D9%86-%D8%B2%D9%88%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%81%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D9%8A%D9%83%D8%B4%D9%81-%D9%83/
Reference 3: https://alqst.org/prisonersofconscience/ruqiya-al-muhareb
Reference 4: None
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