November 25, 2015

Ashraf Fayadh, a Palestinian artist and poet living in Saudi Arabia, is facing execution in Saudi Arabia. Though the exact nature of the charges against him isn't clear, his arrest may be a consequence of his publication of a video showing religious police in the city of Abha, Saudi Arabia, beating a young man in public. This year, Saudi Arabia, a close U.S. ally, has already executed nearly 150 people, a rate that accelerated dramatically since King Salman came to power . Please sign and share the petition to free Ashraf Fayadh .

ASHRAF FAYADH, a Palestinian refugee poet and artist living in Saudi Arabia, has been sentenced to death by a Saudi court, on charges of apostasy or abandoning his faith in Islam. The charges appear to be based on his poetry and writing, and also maybe a form of retaliation for posting an online video showing Saudi religious police lashing a man in public.

Fayadh is a Palestinian refugee who was born in Saudi Arabia and has become a leading member of the young Saudi art scene.

He was arrested in January 2014, his identity documents confiscated, and held for a lengthy period without charge. He was then sentenced to four years in prison and 800 lashes; after he appealed, he was re-tried last month and sentenced to death. He did not have legal representation.

Fayadh is being sentenced to death after he had been jailed for more than 22 months in the Saudi city Abha without clear legal charges beyond "insulting the Godly self" and having "ideas that do not suit Saudi society." These charges are based on the complaint of a reader's interpretation of Fayadh's 2008 poetry collection titled Instructions Within.

Ashraf Fayadh

"According to Fayadh's friends, when the police failed to prove that his poetry was atheist propaganda, they began berating him for smoking and having long hair," reported the Guardian. Fayadh said his poetry book is "just about me being [a] Palestinian refugee--about cultural and philosophical issues. But the religious extremists explained it as destructive ideas against God."

This is not the first time that Saudi authorities have arrested Ashraf Fayadh. The poet was detained previously when a Saudi citizen filed a complaint with the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, accusing Fayadh of having "misguided and misguiding thoughts." Fayadh was bailed out of jail at the time, only to get arrested again.

According to sources close to Fayadh, the poet has been denied both visitation and legal representation rights.

Amnesty International (AI) stated, "We condemn these acts of intimidation targeting Ashraf Fayadh as part of a wider campaign inciting hate against writers and using Islam to justify oppression and to crush free speech. We express our solidarity with Fayadh, hoping to increase support for the poet as well as pressure to release him. Our efforts should come together to ensure the proliferation of free speech and personal freedoms. We specifically call on Saudi intellectuals to express solidarity with Fayadh against Takfiris' intimidation practices meant to silence poets, writers, and artists like him. Let the flag of creativity fly free and remain innovative. Remaining silent towards Fayadh's detention is an insult to knowledge, literature, culture, and thought as well as to freedom and human rights."

What you can do 1. Call the Saudi Embassy in your area and demand freedom for Ashraf Fayadh. In the United States, call 202-342-3800. In Canada, call 613-237-4100. Find the embassy in your country. 2. Protest at the Saudi embassy in your area for freedom for Ashraf Fayadh. Print signs and materials, and gather outside the Saudi embassy with Palestine rights activists, artists and others to demand his freedom. 3. Contact your government officials. The Saudi regime is a close partner of the United States, Canadian and various European governments. Demand that your government pressure the Saudi regime to release Fayadh. In Canada, call the office of Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion at 613-996-5789 or e-mail [email protected] and demand Canada pressure Saudi Arabia to release Fayadh. In the U.S., call the White House (202-456-1111) and the U.S. State Department (202-647-9572); demand the U.S. pressure Saudi Arabia to release Fayadh. In the EU, contact your Member of European Parliament. Please also write letters, Facebook posts, e-mails or send Facebook messages to your local politicians, newspapers and friends to publicize this dire case and spread the information about the situation of Ashraf Fayadh. 4. Please sign and share the petition to free Ashraf Fayadh.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joins the call for the immediate freedom of Ashraf Fayadh. His imprisonment, persecution and death sentence by the Saudi regime reflects the deeply reactionary and far-right role played by the Saudi regime in the region--alongside its close imperial partners in the United States, Canada and Europe--that threatens Palestinian and Arab culture, life and movements and works to block and suppress any struggle for liberation.

One hundred Arab intellectuals have called for Fayadh's release, and so far over 10, 000 people have signed an AI petition to save his life. Please sign and share the petition.

Information from Amnesty International, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and AVAAZ.