Saudi Arabia: Dutch-Yemeni Restaurant Owner Arbitrarily Detained

Fahd Ezzi Mohammed Ramadhan was born in Saudi Arabia and had returned to the country on 18 November 2023 to gather paperwork to complete an application for citizenship in the Netherlands, where he has been granted asylum protection since 2018. He was granted Dutch citizenship in February 2024.

Amnesty International has documented the Saudi authorities’ increasing crackdown on freedom of expression, targeting both citizens and foreign nationals, many of whom have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. This includes criticizing the government and its policies.

Legal proceedings in these cases fall far short of international fair trial standards. Individuals are often held incommunicado without charge, in solitary confinement, and denied access to lawyers or the courts to challenge the lawfulness of their detention.

As of July 2024, Amnesty International has documented the cases of 82 individuals who had been prosecuted solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, including human rights defenders, peaceful political activists, journalists, poets and clerics. Of those, 32 were prosecuted for peacefully expressing their opinions on social media. Amnesty International is aware that the real number of such prosecutions is likely much higher.