Saudi Arabia upholds seven year jail term for writer

A Saudi writer was handed a seven year jail term for his work and contacts with international media, the Gulf Center for Human Rights reported on Sunday.

Nadhir al-Majid, 40, "was told by the penal authorities three weeks ago" that an appeals court in Riyadh had confirmed the sentence passed in January, the GCHR said.

It said Majid was also banned from leaving the country after his release and fined 100,000 riyals ($26,650, 23,630 euros).

"He faced many charges including failing to obey the ruler, participating in demonstrations, writing articles supporting protests (dating back to 2007), in addition to having contact with correspondents of foreign news agencies," the GCHR said.

In 2011, the New York-based Human Rights Watch placed Majid on a list of more than 160 people arrested in the Gulf kingdom, mostly in the east among the Shia minority.

"GCHR believes that the arrest, detention, trial and seven-year prison sentence of Nadhir al-Majid is solely related to his work in defence of human rights and in particular his defence of freedom of assembly in Saudi Arabia," the GCHR said.

Al-Majid initially received the sentence from the Specialised Criminal Court in Riyadh in January.

Rights monitors have criticised the practice of trying activists in such courts, which handle "terrorism" cases.

"Reports confirmed that the writer was alone during the hearing and not accompanied by his family or his lawyer," said the Gulf Centre, which has offices in Copenhagen and Beirut.

In early January London-based Amnesty International said "a string of activists" had been detained or appeared in court over previous weeks in connection with peaceful human rights work.

"Saudi Arabia's authorities have begun the year with an intensified crackdown against human rights activists", it said.

On a visit to the kingdom in January, a United Nations independent expert called on Saudi Arabia to "liberalise" its approach to social media, where activists communicate.

Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said he received reports of "instances in which it has cracked down on certain people" communicating over the internet.