Journalists Imprisoned in 2017 - Nadhir al-Majid
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | 31 December 2017 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, Journalists Imprisoned in 2017 - Nadhir al-Majid, 31 December 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a5c932ba.html [accessed 6 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Al-Mothaqaf | Imprisoned in Saudi Arabia | April 01, 2017
| Job: | Columnist/Commentator |
| Medium: | Internet, Print |
| Beats Covered: | Culture, Human Rights, Politics |
| Gender: | Male |
| Local or Foreign: | Local |
| Freelance: | Yes |
| Charge: | Anti-state, Defamation |
| Length of Sentence: | 5 years to <10 years |
| Reported Health Problems: | No |
On January 18, 2017, a Riyadh court convicted Nadhir 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. 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.
An appeals court upheld the conviction in April 2017, according to Agence France-Presse and the Gulf Center for Human Rights.
The charges relate to an April 2, 2011 opinion piece that al-Majid published in Al-Mothaqaf, an Australia-based, Arabic-language magazine. The column, headlined "I protest, therefore I am," supported the right to protest amid calls for a "Saudi Day of Anger" in the predominantly Shia Muslim eastern Saudi city of al-Qatif, according to Human Rights Watch and Front Line Defenders.
Al-Majid contributed opinion pieces to the daily Al-Sharq, the leftist Al-Hiwar al-Motamaden and Al-Faisal, a magazine funded by the governor of Mecca. He also worked as a teacher.
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.
Al-Majid did not appear on CPJ's 2011 census because CPJ could not determine at the time that his arrest was related to his journalism.
According to the Gulf Center for Human Rights, al-Majid chose to stand trial in the absence of his family or a lawyer" because he perceived the trial as...a formality" that did not follow international standards for a fair trial.
