In the context of the Arab Spring of 2011, demonstrations emerged in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia calling for the respect of human rights, political participation, the release of political prisoners, and an end to anti-Shi’a discrimination, while also expressing solidarity with demonstrators in the neighbouring country of Bahrain. Aged 10, Murtaja Qureiris, a resident of the Eastern Province, attended some of the rallies held in Qatif with members of his family. During the period of repression that followed, his brother was killed by security forces.
Murtaja was arrested by the border police on the King Fahd Causeway linking Saudi Arabia with Bahrain on September 20, 2014. Following his arrest, he was detained in Dar Al Mulahaza juvenile detention centre in the city of Al Dammam, where he was held in solitary confinement for a month.
For four years, Qureiris was denied access to a lawyer. He was not presented before a judicial authority nor allowed to challenge the legality of his detention until September 2018, when the SCC charged him with a series of offences, including participating in anti-government protests, joining a “terrorist organisation,” throwing Molotov cocktails at a police station, attending the funeral of his brother, and firing at security forces. The court’s public prosecutor sought the death penalty against him, invoking Islamic law as well as a religious edict condemning discord (fitna). On June 16, 2019, the SCC sentenced him to 12 years in prison. On February 12, 2020, his sentence was reduced to 8 years imprisonment.
In its communication addressed to the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, MENA Rights Group established that Murtaja Qureiris’ deprivation of liberty constituted a violation of international law on the grounds of discrimination on the basis of his membership of a persecuted and marginalised religious minority group.
On May 11, 2020, eight UN special procedures mandate holders, including the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, expressed their concern at the persecution and ongoing detention of Murtaja Qureiris. In particular, they highlighted “the absence of due diligence and of fair trial guarantees” as well as the “violations of the rights of children in conflict with the law”.
He was released on June 24, 2022 after serving his sentence.
