1. Hamza Kashgari Mohamad Najeeb is a Saudi poet and a former columnist for the Saudi daily newspaper Al-Bilad.
17 Facts About Hamza Kashgari
1. 2.
King Abdullah ordered that Hamza Kashgari be arrested "for crossing red lines and denigrating religious beliefs in God and His Prophet".
3.
Hamza Kashgari left Saudi Arabia, trying to seek political asylum in New Zealand.
4.
Whether Hamza Kashgari was deported before or after the issuing of the injunction is disputed between Malaysian authorities and the Malaysian NGO Lawyers for Liberty.
5.
Hamza Kashgari worked as a columnist for the daily Al-Bilad.
6.
Hamza Kashgari has publicly supported the Arab Spring and according to the LFL, he is active in a group supporting the Arab Spring.
7.
When hundreds of people protested on January 29,2011, in Jeddah against poor infrastructure after the city was flooded and eleven people died, Hamza Kashgari criticised the authorities' response in his public writing for al-Bilad.
8.
On February 5,2012, Hamza Kashgari participated in a sit-in at Nawras Circle in Jeddah calling for the Syria Ambassador in Riyadh to be expelled.
9.
On February 5,2012, Saudi cleric Nasser al-Omar called for Hamza Kashgari to be tried for apostasy, which is defined as a crime by some Muslim states.
10.
Hamza Kashgari stated that he wished to apply for political asylum in New Zealand.
11.
The lawyers were told that Hamza Kashgari had already boarded a plane, at 10:00 local time.
12.
At around 14:15 to 14:30 at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Hamza Kashgari's lawyers found that there were no immigration records of Hamza Kashgari's departure.
13.
Malaysian police spokesman Ramli Yoosuf confirmed that Hamza Kashgari had been deported back to Saudi Arabia.
14.
The Malaysian NGO Lawyers for Liberty stated, "The initial claim of Interpol's involvement was a blatant attempt to varnish the arrest with a veneer of international legitimacy since the arrest could not be justified under international law as Hamza Kashgari was clearly a political refugee".
15.
Hamza Kashgari used Twitter to inform his supporters of his release.
16.
Hamza Kashgari returned home where he was reunited with his mother.
17.
Lawyers for Liberty claimed that Malaysian authorities violated international law by not allowing Hamza Kashgari to try to obtain political asylum.