On 25 July 2022, the Specialized Criminal Court postponed the trial of the minor Muhammad Essam Al-Faraj and 7 others, in the context of procrastination in this case, which was brought before the court at the end of 2019.
Al-Faraj was born on February 25, 2002, and was arrested along with 7 others during a trip to Medina on June 29, 2017, when he was fifteen years old. Upon his arrest, Al-Faraj was beaten by Saudi security forces and kept in handcuffs for hours, with his hands above his head. Despite being a minor, he was placed in the General Investigation Prison in Dammam, instead of the observation house designated for juvenile prison, in clear violation of the rules.
Al-Faraj remained in solitary confinement incommunicado for two months, during which time he was prevented from communicating with his family. He was also subjected to severe torture during which he was kicked, beaten and forced to stand for hours, which led to his transfer to the hospital and suffering from chronic diseases, where he is currently suffering from high blood pressure. The purpose of the torture Al-Faraj was subjected to is to force him to sign confessions.
The trial of Al-Faraj and those with him, including 4 other minors: (Ahmed Abdel Wahed Al-Faraj - Ali Muhammad Al Butti - Muhammad Hussein Al Nimr - Ali Hassan Al-Faraj), began at the end of 2019, that is, two years after their arrest. The trial sessions were interrupted for more than seven months for several reasons, including the Corona pandemic.
Muhammad Al-Faraj has been charged with several charges, which are not among the most serious in international law, including:
- Seeking to destabilize the social fabric and national cohesion by participating in protests and attending funerals (including the funeral of Issam Abu Abdullah on January 12, when he was 9 years old).
- Chanting anti-state slogans.
- Storage and transmission of information to help disrupt public security via WhatsApp.
- Covering up a wanted person and communicating with him with the aim of destabilizing security, provoking chaos and disturbing security.
- Participation in the formation of a terrorist cell.
He was deprived of his right to the assistance of a lawyer from the moment of his arrest and during the investigation period until the trial began, the judge allowed him and the rest to appoint a lawyer. Despite the grave violations involved in the case, the Public Prosecution demanded that he be killed with harbah sentence and request Taazir if he was dismissed from Herabah.
In March 2020, a royal order was issued in Saudi Arabia stipulating the implementation of the Juvenile Law issued in 2018, which prohibits the implementation of death sentences against minors in ta'zir cases.
Subsequently, the Public Prosecution changed the request for the death penalty against Al-Faraj and those with him to request “sentencing the accused with a severe disciplinary punishment that deters them and deters others,” in addition to its demand for other provisions. In the absence of a written penal code and the adoption of punitive penalties on the judge’s opinion, the danger to the safety of Faraj and those with him in the case remained.
During the intermittent court sessions, the organization monitored a number of violations against Al-Faraj, including his failure to attend a number of sessions for unknown reasons, depriving him of the right to adequate medical care, in addition to the failure to respond to his request to pursue his secondary studies first and then university.
On March 17, 2021, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention published an opinion in which it considered that Saudi Arabia practices violations and arbitrary arrests that may amount to crimes against humanity, and that threatening Al-Faraj’s life with death is unforgivable, and also demanded his immediate release and investigation of the violations.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights considers that the case of the minor Muhammad Essam Al-Faraj and the rest of the minors - who are being tried with him in the same case - is a blatant evidence of the impurities of the judicial system in Saudi Arabia, which threatens the lives of minors and exposes them to torture and ill-treatment and deprives them of their rights, against the background of charges not recognized by International law. The organization also stresses that the unjustified procrastination in the sessions is a disregard for the right of individuals to know their fate. It is also classified as a disregard for the freedom and safety of minors, and a violation of Saudi human rights obligations, especially the Convention on the Rights of the Child.