I was arrested in Saudi Arabia without any legal justification, I lost my job and did not receive any compensation, I disappeared without any information for my family, and today I am still suffering for several months despite my return to Pakistan.
I was detained in October 2020 and placed in a single cell, after which I was moved to a cell shared with others, from room to room.
Saud al-Faraj is one of my colleagues who accompanied me in most of the shared cells, and today he is facing the death penalty.
Saud's rights were violated since he was in the solitary cell, and before moving to the common cell, he came with signs of torture visible on him. He suffered for a long time from severe stomach and bone pains, and he was asking for medical advice, but the prison staff treated him with cruelty and contempt, and assured him that he was not in a hotel to demand obtaining medical care.
From the first moment, it became clear that Saud’s fate is harsh, as he is a foreign national. He remained in the solitary cell for nearly nineteen months. He was subjected to severe torture with electricity and suspension, and they prevented him from communicating with others.
Saud filed a complaint once to Mohammed bin Salman, in which he talked about his torture, threats to rape his wife, forced confessions, and deprivation of communication with the outside world for several months. Because of this complaint, the prison staff treated him with vengeance and increased the severity of the violations. They confiscated the pens and papers that were in his possession to prevent him from writing again. Saud demanded his rights, as he knew them well, such as communicating with his wife and obtaining medical care. Saud raised his voice sometimes and demanded his rights. So the security men took him by force, and after an hour they brought him bleeding from the severity of the torture, and they prevented him from obtaining medical care.
Saud went on hunger strike for seven days before being transferred to the hospital due to the deterioration of his condition. He stopped his strike as a result of promises he received in the hospital, but none of these promises were fulfilled. The violations and ill-treatment against him continued, and today the public prosecution is still calling for his execution.
Today I am suffering greatly from everything I went through, and I constantly think about Saud and his fate, and I am afraid that anyone will meet the same fate, without any justification.
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*كلمة ميثم التمار (معتقل باكستاني سابق في السعودية) في المؤتمر السنوي الثالث لضحايا الانتهاكات في المملكة العربية السعودية الذي عقد بتاريخ 9و 10 ديسمبر 2022.