Pak Sahafat – Various media reported the issuance of long prison sentences against the children of the prominent Saudi missionary Safar al-Hawali.
According to the International group of Pak Sahafat news agency, Saudi activist Abdul Rahman al-Hawali announced: the Saudi Arabian judicial system has issued long sentences against the family of Safar Al-Hawali, a Saudi missionary. In such a way that “Saadullah Abdulrahman Al-Hawali” is 14 years old, “Abdulrahman Safar” is 17 years old, “Abdullah Safar” is 16 years old, “Abdul Rahim Safar” is 15 years old, and Dr. Ismail, the manager of his office, has been sentenced for 10 years.
This is while the children of Safar al-Hawali went on a hunger strike in Saudi prisons to protest the verdicts issued against them and the unfair trial.
The user account of “Detainees of Freedom of Expression” wrote in a tweet: The children of Safar Al-Hawali, including Abdur Rahman and Abdur Rahim, started a hunger strike in protest against the issuance of unfair orders against them.
This is while the Guardian English newspaper announced that the Saudi judiciary has sentenced prominent Saudi missionary Awad Al-Qarni to death after more than 5 years of detention.
Safar bin Abdulrahman al-Hawali was arrested after publishing a book criticizing the international policy of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and providing recommendations in this regard.
Saudi security forces arrested Al-Hawali’s four sons and his brother as a form of revenge and further intimidation. Since the arrest of this Saudi missionary, despite his speech disorder and deteriorating physical condition, he has been deprived of adequate care and communication with his family and others.
Al-Hawali is a prominent religious preacher and a member of the “Sahwah al-Islami” movement. The members of this movement openly criticized the policies of Mohammed bin Salman.
Before his arrest, he protested the cost of about 65 billion dollars of the Saudi government for entertainment and celebrations and said: Isn’t it better to spend these billions of dollars on television programs in the field of religion and jihad? Al-Hawali was arrested for criticizing the policies of the House of Saud in the book attributed to him entitled “Muslims and Western Civilization”.
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Safar al-Hawali, his sons Abdullah, Abdul Rahman, Ibrahim, Abdul Rahim and his brother Saadullah were all arrested by Saudi authorities between July 11 and 13, 2018.
Since his arrest, Al-Hawali has had very little opportunity to communicate with his family due to his severe speech impairment and inability to make phone calls. Saudi authorities took no steps to facilitate Al-Hawali’s contact with his family or legal counsel.
Due to the fact that Al-Hawali has suffered many strokes and this has permanently impaired his speech, he is in a very difficult condition.
He also suffered from a broken pelvis and kidney failure that required constant medical care. Al-Hawali’s physical condition has worsened immediately after his arrest.
This Saudi missionary has been deprived of medical care since then despite his disability, old age and poor physical condition. As a kind of punishment for criticizing the Saudi crown prince, he is practically deprived of contact with his family in the detention center and lives in fear of persecution by his relatives.
Due to the deterioration of the physical condition of Safar al-Hawali, who is unable to speak and take care of himself, the human rights organization “Al-Karama” decided to refer his case to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
On October 12, 2020, Al-Karamah Human Rights Organization sent a complaint to this UN committee regarding the physical condition and travel conditions of Al-Hawali, in which it emphasized the insistence of the Saudi authorities on the harassment of this Saudi missionary and his relatives.
Al-Karamah Organization also called on the United Nations to directly address the issue of retaliation against Safar Al-Hawali and his family by the Saudi authorities. Based on its commitments, Saudi Arabia must immediately release him and his family members and stop any harassment and intimidation against them.
In 2017, when Mohammed bin Salman became the crown prince, he launched a wave of arrests of dissidents, preachers and activists, which later turned out to be an organized and US-backed operation to remove all obstacles on his way to the throne.
The Al-Saud regime wants to show that no activist or critic is safe and controls and silences them through spying tools. In the past, the Saudi regime oppressed unique people, but today, the repression of this regime has included all classes of scholars, princes, missionaries, clerics, and even children and women, and Al-Saud’s actions have created new movements inside and outside the country against this.