Judge Suliman Ibrahim al-Reshoudi ( ar, سليمان الرشودي; also spelled ''Suleiman al-Rushoodi'', ''Suliaman al-Rashudi'', born ) is a Saudi Arabian

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 ...

lawyer and pro-democracy activist. He was imprisoned in the 1990s, and again from 2007 until his release on humanitarian grounds on 23 June 2011 at the age of 74–75. In November 2011 he was convicted of "breaking allegiance with the King" and possessing literature by Madawi al-Rasheed and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment followed by a 15-year travel ban. , his conviction was pending appeal at 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 ...

Legal and human rights career

Al-Reshoudi is a lawyer who had the status of judge for two decades. He was one of the founding members of the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights (CDLR), created in 1993 during calls by Saudi Arabian intellectuals for reform. He was arrested along with other reformists. He has represented many prisoners held without charge or trial. In 2006 and 2007, prior to his own arrest during the 2 February 2007 mass arrest, al-Reshoudi helped detainees to try to sue

Mabahith The Saudi Mabahith ( ar, المباحث العامة, , General Investigation Directorate), also spelled ''Mabaheth'', is the secret police agency of the Presidency of State Security in Saudi Arabia, and deals with domestic security and counter- ...

over their

arbitrary detention Arbitrary arrest and arbitrary detention are the arrest or detention of an individual in a case in which there is no likelihood or evidence that they committed a crime against legal statute, or in which there has been no proper due process of law ...

by filing cases with the Grievances Board. Al-Reshoudi has sent reports about "countless" political prisoners to United Nations Special Rapporteurs.

Arrests

1990s

Al-Reshoudi was detained in the 1990s during an arrest campaign against reformists, including CDLR members. He remained in prison for five years.

2007–2011

Al-Reshoudi was arrested again on 2 February 2007. On 28 November 2007, the

United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) is a body of independent human rights experts that investigate cases of arbitrary arrest and detention. Arbitrary arrest and detention is the imprisonment or detainment of an individual, by a State, wi ...

stated that al-Reshoudi and the other 2 February 2007 detainees were held illegally. In 2009, the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) stated that al-Reshoudi had been severely

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

d. Al-Reshoudi's legal defence team filed a court case in the Grievances Board against the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

on 16 August 2009 on the grounds that the detentions were

arbitrary Arbitrariness is the quality of being "determined by chance, whim, or impulse, and not by necessity, reason, or principle". It is also used to refer to a choice made without any specific criterion or restraint. Arbitrary decisions are not necess ...

. Eight court sessions were held. Mabahith representatives were officially absent from four of the sessions, including the final session on 28 August 2010. The eighth (final) session was attended by representatives of ACPRA, the

Human Rights First Society The Human Rights First Society (''HRFS'', ar, جمعية حقوق الإنسان أولا) is a non-governmental and non-profit organisation which seeks to promote human rights in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is one of the few independent gro ...

, the

National Society for Human Rights The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) is a Saudi Arabian human rights organisation closely associated with and funded by the Saudi government. It was established on 10 March 2004 ; ACPRA described the official absence as "contempt of the judiciary". The presiding judge stated that the Ministry of Interior had informed the Grievances Board the previous night, 27 August 2010, that al-Reshoudi and the other detainees had been tried in court in Jeddah. Al-Reshoudi's defence team stated that the Jeddah trial consisted of the detainees appearing with hands and legs chained before an unidentified "judge-like individual" from an unidentified institution, and did not constitute an appearance before a

competent Competence may refer to: *Competence (geology), the resistance of a rock against deformation or plastic flow. *Competence (human resources), a standardized requirement for an individual to properly perform a specific job *Competence (law), the me ...

court. The judge dismissed the case against Mabahith "for lack of jurisdiction". In January 2011, ACPRA and the

complained to King Abdullah about the

of the septuagenarian judge, whose feet were reportedly chained to his bed each night and who was forced to sit up during the day. As of March 2011, he was held in

al-Ha'ir Prison Al-Ha'ir Prison, ( ar, سجن الحاير also known as al-Hayer al-Hayar or al-Haer), is a Saudi Arabian political, maximum-security, Mabahith-affiliated prison located approximately 25 miles south of Riyadh. It is the largest prison complex in ...

. On 20 March 2011, during the

2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests The protests in Saudi Arabia were part of the Arab Spring that started with the 2011 Tunisian revolution. Protests started with a self-immolation in Samtah and Jeddah street protests in late January 2011. Protests against anti-Shia discriminatio ...

, al-Reshoudi's daughter Dana al-Reshoudi visited the

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...

along with 30 other women and 200 men to ask for their "husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons" to be released. Dana al-Reshoudi and other women were detained and interrogated in al-Ha'ir Prison for the night and released when their male guardians arrived at the prison and signed to release them. Suliman al-Reshoudi was released on 23 June 2011 for health reasons but the charges against him remained. On 22 November 2011, al-Reshoudi was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment, to be followed by 15 years' travel ban. Two of the charges he was convicted on were "breaking allegiance with the King" and "possessing banned articles by Professor Madawi al-Rasheed". Along with other reformists sentenced on the same day, al-Reshoudi filed an appeal against his conviction in the

on 23 January 2012.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

representative Philip Luther criticised the convictions of al-Reshoudi and the other reformists, stating, "Some of these charges appear to be criminalizing the peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression, including advocacy of political change. In these cases, the convictions should be quashed. Even the seemingly more serious charges on which some of the 16 men were convicted, such as money laundering, need to be re-examined carefully, as the convictions followed a grossly unfair trial." Amnesty International called for the appeals to follow the international standards for fair trials.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reshoudi, Suliman Saudi Arabian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Saudi Arabia Living people Saudi Arabian democracy activists 1930s births Year of birth uncertain Saudi Arabian human rights activists