(September 8 - 2006)… After 15 years behind bars, Hadi Al-Mutaif, has given up on justice in Saudi Arabia. The 31 year old man has started a hunger strike until death, sources in Najran prison told SIA news.
Hadi started his strike Tuesday, a move that prompted the prison authority to move him to a solitary confinement without the benefit of medical care, security sources said on condition of anonymity.
Hadi's ordeal begun 15 years ago after he was arrested and sentenced to death for an impromptu statement he made when he was just 18 years old.
In October of 1993, Hadi, a Bedouin who grew up in the desert of Najran, enrolled in Najran police training camp to become a policeman.
While getting ready to join other police recruits for afternoon prayers, Hadi jokingly said, “Let’s pray on the penis of the prophet.” Three people heard him and he was arrested on January 20, 1994.
The trial begun December 1994 marks and six hearings later in 1995 he was sentenced to death by Judge Abdulah Al-Moklaf for his statemnt. In 1999 his sentence was reduced from a death to a life sentence when the then Crown Prince and current King Abdullah reduced it.
There are other motives at play here other than wanting to punish a teenager for making a rudimentary comment. Hadi is an Ismaili Shia. The Ismaili Shia are especially hated by the Wahhabi Muslims in power in Saudi Arabia.
Saleh Al-Luhaidan the Wahhabi Chief Justice of Saudi Arabia has insisted that Hadi get the death penalty for his actions not because this punishment is just for the crime but because Hadi is an Ismaili Shia. Many Saudis are becoming aware of how corrupt the Saudi Justice Department is and the Chief Justice’s attempts to sentence Hadi to death for his actions only reinforce the evidence to support corruption.
While his life has been spared Hadi’s case is currently unresolved and he continues to sit in prison unjustly.
Hadi’s family sent a letter to the head of the Saudi Commission on Human Rights, Turki Al-Sudairy, asking him to intervene. Al-Sudairy said he sent letters to the king and made a call to the prison. Despite Al-Sudairy’s request to move Hadi to a clean cell and monitor his health the prison authorities moved Hadi to solitary confinement.
Hadi, as of Tuesday September 5, 2006 is on an open hunger strike, which he is determined to go on until death. The director of the prison, Ali Ahmed As-Shari, visited him and tried to convince him not to go on a hunger strike to no avail. This issue is a matter of life and death. Everyone in Saudi Arabia Sunnis, Wahhabis, Shia needs to act and speak on behalf of their fellow citizen.
Not only do the people of Saudi Arabia need to act but the international community as well has a duty to Hadi. His case is one of gross violations of human rights that the international community can not leave unresolved. The International community needs to take action to push for the release of Hadi. He has already lost 15 years of his life; we can not let him lose his life completely. |
