Saudi rights activist Abdullah dies in prison

Monitoring Desk

ISTANBUL: Saudi human rights activist and renowned academic Abdullah al-Hamid has died in prison, according to a media report and a prisoner rights group.

Prisoners of Conscience, a Twitter account which documents the situation of political prisoners in Saudi Arabia, said that al-Hamid died due to “intentional medical negligence in prison (…) he had a brain stroke and went into a comma for 15 days.”

The account accused the Saudi authorities of “deliberately assassinating him after leaving him in coma for hours before taking him to hospital.”

ALQST — a Saudi human rights group that operates from outside the Kingdom — said that al-Hamid was arrested in March 2013 and sentenced for 11 years, without giving any reason for the sentence.

The group said that al-Hamid had deteriorating health conditions and he was transferred to a hospital more than three months ago, where a doctor suggested an urgent heart surgery. It said Saudi authorities did not allow him to remain in hospital until a heart surgery could be carried out and sent him back to prison.

The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera news network, citing some human rights activists, also reported the death of al-Hamid due to “medical negligence.”

The Saudi authorities have not yet commented on his death, however, they usually deny any negligence in care of prisoners.

Al-Hamid is a human rights defender and a founding member of the independent Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association.