The Qatari authorities continue to target prominent Qatari human rights defender Abdullah Al-Maliki at all levels, in order to force him to return to the country and throw him in prison or even end his life, as part of their relentless efforts to stop his wide-ranging peaceful and legitimate activities in exile to defend human rights in his country.
He left his country in 2016 without any criminal case being brought against him, and as soon as he began his public work abroad in the field of human rights in 2021, legal complaints began to pour in against him, most of which were filed by the State Security Service to harass him. The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has previously documented all of these cases in detail, which can be found here.
New life sentence issued against Al-Maliki
On 25 July 2024, the Criminal Court in Qatar issued an initial life sentence against Al-Maliki, the sixth in a series of unfair sentences issued against him by different Qatari courts, and ordered that his TikTok account be blocked, in flagrant violation of his right to freedom of expression on the Internet. The decision was swiftly and uncritically upheld by the Court of Appeal on 26 September 2024.
He was convicted on charges of allegedly endangering the safety of the state through information he published on the electronic information network, i.e. the Internet, publicly challenging the exercise of the Emir’s powers and defaming him, and inciting the overthrow of the regime.
All of the trials against him were conducted in absentia and failed to meet the minimum international standards for fair trial and due process.
Authorities try to seize his various assets
Another form of harassment, confirmed by reliable local reports, is the Qatari government’s attempts to confiscate Al-Maliki’s property and money and the property and money of his children in Qatar. The Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Government Office, and the Qatar News Agency have filed numerous fabricated civil lawsuits against him, including the allegation that he has been cut off from his work duties since April 2019, after they first claimed that he had been out of work since August 2021.
On 30 August 2021, the Qatari Prime Minister dismissed him from his government job effective April 2019, in a move aimed at stripping him of any source of income to support his young children in Qatar.
On 28 November 2023, Al-Maliki was informed by a Qatari bank official that his bank account had been frozen as of 18 August 2023, due to the Qatari government’s refusal to renew his ID card.
On 20 October 2024, the authorities also filed an executive case against him, in order to seize his money, property, and the property of his sons. This comes after a politicised government decision was issued against him on 20 June 2022, ordering the recovery of his salaries that he received for the period from April 2019 to July 2021, during which he worked for the Qatari government. The enforcement court has begun its procedures to initiate this case against him, under pressure from the State Security Agency, which controls all the branches of government in the country, including the judiciary.
Refusal to renew his official documents
The Qatari authorities inside Qatar and Qatari diplomatic missions abroad continue to refuse to renew Al-Maliki’s Qatari passport and Qatari ID card despite his repeated attempts since January 2021 to renew them.
The former Qatari ambassador to Germany, Abdullah Mohammed Saud Al Thani, had categorically refused to renew Al-Maliki’s passport in two official letters sent to him on 24 August and 23 September 2021, respectively. The Ministry of Interior also repeatedly rejected a request submitted by one of his colleagues inside Qatar to renew his personal ID card, which caused many problems for him and his children as well.
Malicious criminal and civil cases
All the malicious criminal and civil cases filed against him inside Qatar began in 2022, and continue until now, despite the fact that he left his country since 28 September 2016, which confirms their lack of credibility and that they are targeting his peaceful human rights work.
It is worth noting that the Qatari government refused to provide guarantees for his safety on 05 June 2020, when he intended to return to Qatar to transfer his mother to receive treatment in Europe at his own expense. Thus, he was unable to do anything, which led to the collapse of her health and her death on 26 June 2020.
Public Prosecutor calls for him to be executed
On 27 October 2022, the Qatari Public Prosecutor, following direct orders issued by the State Security Apparatus, appealed the initial life sentence issued in absentia against Al-Maliki, insisting that it be replaced by the death penalty by firing squad or hanging to death.
On 26 May 2022, the Criminal Court sentenced Al-Maliki to life imprisonment after holding only two hearings, without informing him, in a trial that lacked the minimum international standards for fair trial and legal procedures.
In this show trial, Al-Maliki faced charges of allegedly “publicly challenging the emir’s exercise of his powers and dishonouring him,” “inciting the overthrow of the ruling regime,” and “attempting to overthrow the regime.” The number of cases filed against him on the same charges has reached three.
Direct targeting of his peaceful activity
In addition to judicial harassment, Al-Maliki was subjected to many other forms of direct targeting. On 13 July 2022, Al-Maliki was at a peaceful gathering organised by a number of human rights activists in the popular Marienplatz Square in Munich, Germany when it was repeatedly attacked by groups of more than 15 Qatari citizens who were mobilised by the State Security Apparatus and sent to Germany to carry out a specific mission of sabotaging this peaceful protest calling for freedom, justice, equality, democracy and the release of detainees in Qatar. The German authorities were informed of this attack.
Preventing his children in Qatar from communicating with him
In light of the ongoing harassment against him, the Qatari authorities, in coordination with the State Security Service, and in an inhumane measure, prevented his children from communicating with him since the beginning of October 2024. Before that, they had arrested one of his sons for a week in September 2024, on fabricated, malicious charges, in order to prevent his children from communicating with him.
Special statement to the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
In a special statement to GCHR, Al-Maliki said, “The Qatari government, along with the Amiri Diwan, the State Security Service and the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are under the illusion that their continued harassment and targeting of me and my children in Qatar and outside Qatar will make me stop my peaceful human rights activities. They will live their entire lives in delusion, because defending human rights in my country, the State of Qatar, and anywhere else, and demanding democracy and combating corruption and terrorism is an honour for every human being, wherever they are.” Al-Maliki also stressed once again, “A person lives only once in life, so he and others must live it with freedom, dignity, justice and equality in Qatar and wherever they are.”
Recommendations
The Qatari government should immediately and unconditionally stop targeting prominent human rights defender Abdullah Al-Maliki and his family members, quash the life sentences against him, and stop demanding his imprisonment or attempting to eliminate him. It should also stop trying to seize his money and the money of his children. It should not prevent his children from communicating with him and stop harassing them.
GCHR believes that he is being targeted because of his peaceful and legitimate human rights activities. The authorities in Qatar should renew all his official Qatari documents, including his passport and national ID card, and support his peaceful human rights activities.
GCHR calls on the German government and other European governments, where Al-Maliki carries out his peaceful human rights activities, to grant him full international protection as soon as possible, as he is in dire need of it at this time.
