1. Waleed Sami Abulkhair is a Saudi Arabian lawyer and human rights activist, and the head of the Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia organization.
49 Facts About Waleed Abulkhair
1. 2.
Waleed Abulkhair is the first activist to be prosecuted by the Terrorism Law.
3.
Waleed Abulkhair was arrested on 15 April 2014, and was sent to al-Ha'ir Prison while awaiting prosecution.
4.
On 6 July 2014, Abulkhair was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Specialized Criminal Court, and a travel ban for another 15 years, in addition to a fine of 200,000 riyals.
5.
On 12 January 2015, the case returned to the Court of Appeals, after which the judge requested increasing the previous sentence, because Waleed Abulkhair refused to apologize.
6.
Waleed Abulkhair is incarcerated in the Dhahban Central Prison in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a facility used to hold high-profile political prisoners, as well as members of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
7.
Muhammad Waleed Abulkhair AbuAlKhair Al Maktoum was born in Jeddah, west of Saudi Arabia.
8.
Waleed Abulkhair comes from a Hejazi family of judges and Imams of the Holy Mosque.
9.
Waleed Abulkhair's mother had a huge impact on his character, and continues to be a strong influence on his personality.
10.
In November 2015, while Waleed Abulkhair was still in prison, he and Samar Badawi agreed to divorce for personal reasons.
11.
Waleed Abulkhair holds two bachelor's degrees: one in law, which he earned with the highest distinction; and a second degree specializing in Arabic language.
12.
Waleed Abulkhair has memorized the Quran and got a license from Shaikh Obaid Allah AlAfqani and was approved by the Teaching Board of the Holy Mosque in Madinah.
13.
In 2007 Waleed Abulkhair began his career in the legal profession, where he joined lawyer Essam Basrawi and worked in his office.
14.
Waleed Abulkhair defended a number of clients in the case of Jeddah reformers, including Dr Mossa bin Mohammed Al-Qarni, Dr Saud al-Hashimi and Dr Abdul Rahman al-Shumaimri, who were arrested in February 2007.
15.
Waleed Abulkhair filed a lawsuit on June 22,2009 against the Interior Ministry over the detention of his clients without charge.
16.
Waleed Abulkhair was hired by the British Embassy in Saudi Arabia to defend one of its nationals detained by Saudi authorities.
17.
Waleed Abulkhair signed other two more petitions in 2011, "Towards a State of Rights and Institutions", the "National Declaration for Reform", which called for radical reforms in the political system, and coincided with waves of protests against Arab regimes.
18.
Waleed Abulkhair is the founder, in 2008, of Monitor for Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, an independent human rights organization.
19.
In 2012, Waleed Abulkhair registered and licensed the Monitor at the Canadian Ministry of Labor.
20.
Waleed Abulkhair then sent a letter appealing to King Abduallah to allow recognition of the organization in Saudi Arabia.
21.
In March 2012, Waleed Abulkhair was nominated by the US State Department to attend an extensive course for six-week titled "Democratic leaders" at Syracuse University in New York sponsored by the US State Department, but the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution in Jeddah summoned him and told him that he was banned from traveling.
22.
Waleed Abulkhair defended his salon by saying that he is offering the freedom of speech, the freedom of belief and the freedom of expression, things that cannot be provided outside the door of his house.
23.
Waleed Abulkhair mentioned his salon in an article that he posted in the Washington Post titled "Steadfast in pursuing a freer Saudi Arabia".
24.
Waleed Abulkhair took up her case and defended her in Saudi courts.
25.
Waleed Abulkhair launched a campaign to demand her release by using various social media such as Twitter and Facebook.
26.
Waleed Abulkhair represented Raif Badawi, founder of the Saudi Liberal Network Internet discussion group, after he was arrested for establishing the network and charged with "committing violations of legitimacy" and "insulting the Divine self".
27.
Waleed Abulkhair represented Raif before detention when he was sentenced to death for insulting religion but he dropped the case and then directly he was detained, and Raif was sentenced to jail.
28.
Waleed Abulkhair conducted interviews with international media, including those with Kevin Sliven of the Washington Post, Jacob Timblin of Time magazine, and Pierre Pray of Le Figaro newspaper, as well as Frank Gardner of the BBC.
29.
Waleed Abulkhair wrote several articles for non-Saudi newspapers, including two essays for The Washington Post first titled "Steadfast in pursuing a freer Saudi Arabia".
30.
Waleed Abulkhair wrote an article entitled "Obstacle in Front of Saudis and Fear" published by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, and wrote an article published on MSNBC entitled "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and stifle dissent in the name of combating terrorism".
31.
Waleed Abulkhair wrote more than 300 articles in local newspapers in Arabic in which he addressed various legal and human rights issues.
32.
On 26 August 2014, the Washington Post published an article entitled "Saudi Arabia Continues its Outrageous Repression on Human Rights Activists" in which it wrote about the judgment against Waleed Abulkhair, describing it as "the latest in a long and sorrowful series of persecutions of those who stand for human rights and dignity in the kingdom".
33.
Waleed Abulkhair has built a global reputation as a reliable and certified source for the international community on human rights issues in Saudi Arabia in 2010.
34.
Waleed Abulkhair has attended two meetings under the sponsorship of the Organization of Bridging in the Gulf, the first held in the European Parliament to discuss the human rights situation in the Gulf States, and the second was held in Kuwait and was on the status of human rights activists in the Gulf states.
35.
Waleed Abulkhair attended a conference held by the Human Rights Watch in Bahrain.
36.
Waleed Abulkhair attended a meeting with a number of European diplomats sponsored by Front Line Defenders Org to discuss human rights issues in the Gulf states.
37.
Waleed Abulkhair participated in the summit of the Alliance of Youth Movements, which was held in Mexico.
38.
On 15 April 2014, Waleed Abulkhair was arrested in the Specialized Criminal Court when he was attending the fifth session of the trial.
39.
Waleed Abulkhair's family did not receive any news about him until the next day, later it was announced that he was arrested and transferred to Al-Ha'ir Prison.
40.
Waleed Abulkhair refused to recognize the legitimacy of the specialized security and plead before the court, for refusing to "crimes of terrorism and its financing law", which he was prosecuted according to it.
41.
On 7 July 2014, Waleed Abulkhair was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment, followed by a 15-year ban on travel.
42.
Waleed Abulkhair prayed for God's victory and insisted not to recognize the court and the legitimacy of the SCC.
43.
Waleed Abulkhair is serving his conviction now in Dhahban Central Prison in Jeddah City.
44.
Additionally, Waleed Abulkhair has published more than 300 articles in Saudi newspapers concerning legal reforms and human rights issues.
45.
On 25 January 2013, Waleed Abulkhair received the Swedish Olof Palme Prize in recognition of his "strong and continuous struggle characterized by selfless in order to promote respect for human rights and civil rights for both men and women".
46.
Waleed Abulkhair bestowed the award upon the detainee activist Dr Abdullah al-Hamed.
47.
On 12 June 2015, Waleed Abulkhair was designated as the prizewinner of Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights Prize, the largest prize in the field of human rights in Europe, which has already been awarded to Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa.
48.
On 9 October 2015, Waleed Abulkhair was awarded the first Swiss Freethinker Prize.
49.
In both2016 and 2017, Waleed Abulkhair was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by two members of the Norwegian Parliament.