On 2 March 2010, human rights defender Mr Mohammed Saleh El-Bejadi, 32, from Barida/Qaseem, was prevented from leaving Saudi Arabia en route to Qatar. Mohammed Saleh El-Bejadi is a supervisor of the website “Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia-Al-Marsad”, a co-founder of the Saudi Civil & Political Rights Association (ACPRA) established in October 2009, and was previously the host of a weekly on-line forum called “The Citizen and His Rights”, which was reportedly considered provocative by the Saudi authorities.

Further Information

Front Line previously issued an urgent appeal on 6 August 2009 in relation to the continued travel ban and harassment against Mohammed Saleh El-Bejadi.

On 2 March 2010, after checking in his baggage, Mohammed Saleh El-Behadi's passport was confiscated at the passport checkpoint at King Khalid airport in Riyadh, and he was informed that he was banned from travelling. When he argued that the ban had been lifted, the passport officer replied that “the ban was reinstated three hours ago according to an order by the security affairs at the Ministry of Interior”. No reason was given for the ban.

In 2007, Mohammed Saleh El-Bejadi publicly called for a sit-in in front of the district governorate to call for the release of detainees, which took place on 1 September 2007. He called for this gathering through statements to foreign satellite channels and news agencies. On 4 September 2007, he was arrested and detained for four months in solitary confinement without charge or trial. On 1 January 2008 he was released on the condition that he would not organise any fora or gatherings, not join any group (i.e. reform groups) or contact any foreign press.

Throughout 2009, Mohammed Saleh El-Bejadi, his wife and other members of the family received threatening phone calls and messages. In March 2009, he was summoned to the Intelligence Police (Mukhabrat) department and interrogated about his relationship to internet reports and protest activities which had called for democratic reforms and the release of detainees. On 23 July 2009, Mr Mohammed Saleh El-Bejadi was informed by the passport authorities in Barida, Saudi Arabia, that he was banned from travelling.

Front Line believes that the ongoing harassment and travel ban against Mohammed Saleh El-Bejadi are directly related to his activities in the defence of human rights in Saudi Arabia. Front Line sees this as part of a pattern of ongoing harassment against Mohammed Saleh El-Bejadi.