Abdullah al-Odeh, son of Saudi preacher Sheikh Salman al-Odeh, said his family was surprised by a call from the prison administration where their father is being held by the Saudi authorities to tell them to rush him to Riyadh.
Abdullah al-Odah added in a tweet on his Twitter account that his transfer to Riyadh was to attend a hearing within his trial, although the basic date is supposed to be more than a month from now.
A trial for Sheikh al-Awda was due to take place on July 28, but was adjourned until several months later.
The official account of prisoners of conscience on Twitter on the rights of political prisoners in Saudi Arabia, said that the Saudi authorities postponed the trial of return without giving reasons, amid continued reservation on Sheikh - who has been detained since 2017 - in solitary confinement.
Today the family was surprised by the call from the prison administration to the parents in Saudi Arabia and told them to transfer the father # Salman_hurried back to Riyadh for a hearing that was expedited in the trial of the father .. Although the date is supposed to be more than a month from now. |
The postponement of the previous session came after weeks of reports that the Saudi authorities intend to issue and execute the death sentences of Salman al-Awda, Awad al-Qarni and Ali al-Omari shortly after the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
In September 2017, Saudi authorities arrested prominent preachers and activists in the country, most notably three preachers Salman al-Awda, Awad al-Qarni and Ali al-Omari, amid demands from international and Islamic figures and organizations for their release.
Amnesty International has also demanded that the Saudi authorities immediately and unconditionally release al-Sheikh and drop all charges against him.
Earlier, Amnesty International's Middle East research director Lynn Maalouf expressed concern that al-Awda could be executed, while the organization said Sheikh had gone through appalling conditions since his arrest two years ago, including prolonged pretrial detention, months of incommunicado detention and incommunicado detention. Outer.
The Saudi authorities "continue to claim that they are fighting terrorism, while this and other trials are clearly politicized and aimed at silencing independent voices in the country," the report said.
Sheikh al-Odah told his family when he visited him six months after his arrest about the cruel treatment he suffered in his prison, including the occasional deprivation of sleep and food, as well as the signing of documents he did not know.
The authorities arrested Sheikh on September 10, 2017, as part of a campaign of arrests involving a number of scholars and writers, shortly after a post in which he called on God to "compose hearts" on the back of reports of possible reconciliation between the countries of the Gulf crisis that erupted after the announcement of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt. Diplomatic relations with Qatar and the imposition of a blockade.