AlSulaiman in Detention for More than 38 Months, and
Continuously Violating International Standards for Fair Trial
European Saudi Society for Human
Rights
24/06/2014
 |
| The activist Fadel Ali AlSuleiman |
On 11/03/2011, the Saudi authorities arrested
the activist Fadel Ali AlSuleiman with regard to leading a demonstration on
04/03/2011 in AlAhsa’s province, located eastern side of Saudi Arabia, in
coincidence with the Arab Spring protests.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in AlAhsa arrested him, then he was
transferred to several detention centers and then to the AlMalaz’s Prison, specialized
for criminal offenses, which located at the capital Riyadh.
The public prosecutor charges AlSulaiman with
multiple charges, which mostly related to the freedom of expression, as follow:
demonstrating in front of AlAhsa Municipality, provoking demonstration, attacking
the security forces by rejecting the arrest and smashed their camera, public order
crime, disobeying wali alamr [1] (guarding).
AlSulaiman arrest is a typical arbitrary one,
which was done 8 people that physically attacked him by punches; kicks; beaten
with batons, and verbally insulted with degrading and humiliating words. This cause
a physical disability in three fingers of his left hand. And after he got into
the police car, the policemen continued attacking him physically and verbally
until they arrived to the Department of Criminal Investigation at the Police Center
in AlAhsa. He was interrogated badly by the police chief along with a number of
officers, followed by a multiple transfers between detention centers. He was
even transferred to Dammam Detectives’ prison, which refused to have him due to
AlSulaiman injury. Therefore, he was taken to him to the Security Forces
Hospital where he was held in a confinement room for two months accompanied
with the humiliating investigation by 6 detectives. Then, he was returned to
AlAhsa’s Police Center again and placed in solitary confinement in the
AlSalhiya Police Center for a month, then to AlAhsa General Prison and ended to
AlMalaz Prison in Riyadh.
These violations of the activist AlSulaiman’s
rights clearly disregard with Article 2 of the Law of Criminal Procedure, which
states “An arrested person shall not be subjected to any bodily or moral
harm. Similarly, he shall not be
subjected to any torture or degrading treatment” and also Article 35 “Any
such person shall be treated decently and shall not be subjected to any bodily
or moral harm.”[2]
At the first session of his trial, the judge
ordered to release him according to consisted law with his case, but the
Supreme Court refused, and his case has been referred to the Court of Criminal
specialized (CCS) in Riyadh, which specialized in terrorism and state security
issues.
On 26/09/2014, AlSulaiman will appear in court
at its headquarters (for summer only) in Jeddah city, in session # 12 of the
trial that continued for more than 35 months so far. This is incompatible with international
standards for fair trial that require showing suspended expeditiously to
eliminate in order to check litigation in a reasonable time “Anyone arrested
or detained on a criminal charge shall be brought promptly before a judge or
other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power and shall be
entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release. It shall not be the
general rule that persons awaiting trial shall be detained in custody, but
release may be subject to guarantees to appear for trial, at any other stage of
the judicial proceedings, and, should occasion arise, for execution of the
judgment.”[3]
The defense demanded the medical report which
clarifies AlSuleiman’s torture, and the judge requested it as well, but the
General Intelligence is refusing to submit the report and keeping it
classified.
This arrest lead to deprive AlSuleiman, 53
years old, from his job and his years of service employment’s rights in the Ministry
of Education in the Eastern Province as a supervisor in charge of public
relations and educational media, starting from the first months of arrest at
the beginning of 2011.
We in the European Saudi Society for Human
Rights (ESSHR) call the Saudi authorities to:
-
The immediate release of the activist
AlSulaiman, under Article 123 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which states “If
the accused is referred to a court, his release if detained or detention if not
under arrest shall be within the jurisdiction of the court to which he has been
referred.”
-
Dropping the charges, which defined as a
legal right by the Assembly, local and international conventions as the freedom
of expression.
-
Prosecuting responsible officials as police forces
who participated in the AlSulaiman injury to a fair trial.
-
Allowing the citizens to exercise their rights,
as freedom of expression and peaceful demonstration, which guaranteed in the
treaties to which Saudi joined.
[1] Wali
AL-Amr, in Islam, this term means both the person in charge of the community as
well as a guardian of a person.
[2] The
Saudi Law of Criminal Procedure, 2013
[3] Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights 1976, and in accordance to Article 49
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