Amnesty renews call for Saudi Arabia to release French-Egyptian national facing torture

Amnesty International has renewed its calls for Saudi Arabia to free Dr Amr Abdelfattah, a French-Egyptian national detained in the kingdom for over two years, accusing Saudi authorities of torturing him and denying him any contact with his family.

Abdelfattah was arrested in June 2024 after reportedly completing the Hajj pilgrimage with an invalid visa permit, but was later tried before a specialised criminal court where he faced charges on what Amnesty has described as "expression-related offences".

The telecommunications engineer had travelled to Saudi Arabia with his wife for the first time to perform Hajj, but was detained on 16 June in Makkah before being transferred to the Dhahban Central Prison near Jeddah.

Earlier this month, Abdelfattah’s France-based lawyer raised concerns that he had been sentenced to prison for an unspecified number of years, with authorities failing to state how long his sentence would be or what his conviction was.

According to Amnesty, Abdelfattah has faced ill treatment, repeated torture, and had access to his lawyer denied. The rights group further added that he has been held incommunicado and has been denied contact with his family.

Calls for the release of the father-of-three have also grown among activists, particularly as Amnesty revealed that credible sources have reported seeing signs of physical violence on Abdelfattah’s body.

Abdelfattah’s lawyer told Amnesty that on 23 August 2024, interrogators threw him against a wall and threatened to kill him. Later that same year in December, six masked officers reportedly restrained and beat him, causing him to lose consciousness.

Another account states that on 11 March 2025, he was forced to run with his feet tied and was denied food for 24 hours.

Earlier this year, reports state he was beaten by other detainees, threatened and assaulted. In May, prison officers also beat him after he requested the transfer who he said posed a danger to other prisoners.

Health concerns

Abdelfattah’s family have raised the alarm over his health, noting that he has astigmatism and has not had access to his glasses since last year.

He has told his family that he has developed back pain while behind bars, which has now started affecting his legs and reduced control of his left hand.

Contact with his family has also been restricted, with only a 15-minute call with his wife permitted in September 2024.

However, reports state that prison authorities monitored the calls and interjected when he mentioned prison conditions and his legal case. His family have said that they are forced to speak Arabic so that conversations can be monitored.