The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) welcomes the release of several religious scholars and academics after lengthy prison terms.

Among those who have been released is academic Dr. Khalid Al-Oudah, the brother of prominent religious scholar Dr. Salman Al-Oudah. He was arrested on 12 September 2017 and sentenced to five years in prison on two charges that included showing sympathy after the arrest of his brother, Dr. Salman Al-Oudah, and for working simultaneously in private and public jobs.

During Dr. Al-Oudah’s detention, he was denied the required medications and was later admitted to intensive care that caused him to develop heart disease. He was also subjected to solitary confinement. Dr. Al-Oudah was released on 26 June 2025, nine years after his arrest. It was alleged that his arrest was caused by him posting on his X account about the arrest of his brother, Dr. Salman Al-Oudah, shortly after the latter was detained. It was also reported that he was released with an ankle monitor, despite being under a travel ban for another five years, which is the equivalent of the sentence that he served.

Dr. Adel Bana’ma, a professor of Arabic language and a journalist, was similarly arrested in the same widescale wave of arrests on 12 September 2017 against mostly religious and academic community figures. During his detention, he was subjected to prolonged solitary confinement, a visitation ban, denial of legal representation, denial of adequate medical care, and expulsion from his academic job. He was released in July 2025, nine years after his detention in Jeddah Dahban prison.

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Harthy, a religious academic and scholar, was also arrested on 11 September 2017 and was initially sentenced to five years in prison by the Specialised Criminal Court. During his detention, he was subjected to torture, solitary confinements and mistreatment. He was not released until June 2025, nine years after his arrest. Similarly, Ghorm Al-Bishi, a religious scholar, was also arrested on 10 September 2017. He was also released in June 2025, after nine years of imprisonment.

GCHR welcomes the direction of releasing arbitrarily-detained scholars, journalists and academics. However, we remain concerned over their lengthy prison terms and the weaponising of the Counterterrorism Law and Cybercrimes Law to stifle dissent and restrict the freedom of speech.

Recommendations

GCHR urges the Saudi authorities to:

1. Release all detained human rights defenders and other activists immediately and unconditionally;
2. End the unlawful travel bans against all the activists who were released; and
3. Reform the legislation to protect freedom of expression, in addition to the full protection of all public freedoms.