Amnesty International said in a new tweet published on Monday that Sheikh Salman al-Awda faces the risk of execution, as the court continues to postpone the sentencing hearing, and urged in its tweet to demand his release.
The organization added in its tweet that Sheikh Salman al-Awda is a "reformist cleric who has been in solitary confinement since 2017, and his health is deteriorating."
Sheikh @salman_alodah is a reformist cleric who has been in solitary confinement since 2017, and his health is deteriorating!
He is being tried by the terrorism court that the Saudi authorities use to suppress dissenting voices.
Sheikh Salman is at risk of execution, while the court continues to adjourn the sentencing hearing.
Demand King Salman to release him now!# Freedom_for Salman pic.twitter.com/oYGnbOWf9W
— Amnesty International (@AmnestyAR) September 27, 2021
In a previous statement to the organization, Lynn Maalouf, Director of Research for the Middle East at Amnesty International, said that Al-Awda "go through horrific conditions, including prolonged pre-trial detention, solitary confinement for months, and incommunicado detention," stressing that all of these are "violations outrageous right to a fair trial."
The Saudi authorities arrested Sheikh Al-Awda, 63, on September 7, 2017, a few hours after he published a tweet urging the Qatari and Saudi authorities to end the diplomatic confrontation, according to the organization.
The organization says that al-Awda "was held incommunicado and in solitary confinement for the first five months of his arrest, and was not allowed to contact his family or a lawyer, except for one short phone call a month after his arrest. In January 2018, he was transferred to hospital because His health deteriorated, and he was not allowed to contact his family until a month later."
She explained that "in August 2018, Sheikh Salman al-Awda appeared before the court in a secret session, where he was charged with 37 charges, including belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, calling for government reforms and "regime change" in the Arab region. May 2019 he was brought to another trial in secret session, after which his lawyer informed the family that the public prosecutor had demanded the death penalty.