Abdulaziz al-Shubaily is a prominent Saudi human rights

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

. In 2010, al-Shubaily joined the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), which has advocated for release of

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

s and greater respect for

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. al-Shubaily has served as a lawyer for families of men held arbitrarily and without charge by Saudi authorities for months and years after their arrests, and has signed public statements calling for the release of arbitrary detainees, establishment of a

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

, the right to peaceful assembly, and the popular election of members of the Saudi

Shura Council In Arab culture, a Majlis-ash-Shura ( ar, مجلس الشورى; Shura Council in English) is an advisory council or consultative council. In Islamic context, the Majlis-ash-Shura is one of two ways that a Caliph, khalifa (Islamic leader) may be s ...

. On May 29, the

Specialized Criminal Court The Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) ( ar, المحكمة الجزائية المتخصصة) is a non- Sharia court created in Saudi Arabia in 2008 that tries suspected terrorists and human rights activists. On 26 June 2011, the court started tr ...

convicted him and sentenced him to eight years in prison and an eight-year ban on travel abroad for his peaceful activities. He remains out on bail pending appeal. On January 10, 2017, the Specialized Criminal Court re-sentenced al-Shubaily to eight years in prison, an eight-year travel ban, and an eight-year ban on using social media after his release. The charges against him included "incitement against public order," "insulting the judiciary," "describing the ruling Saudi state – unjustly and wrongly – as a police state," and "participating in an unlicensed association." , he remained out of prison on bail, pending appeal. In September 2017, al-Shubaily was arrested again, along with Issa al-Hamid, another ACPRA co-founder.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shubaily, Abdulaziz Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Saudi Arabian human rights activists 21st-century Saudi Arabian lawyers

See also

References