P alestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh has been sentenced to death for apostasy by a Saudi Arabian court, Human Rights Watch’s Middle East researcher Adam Coogle said on Friday, referring to court documents. The verdict of that court sentenced him to four years in prison and 800 lashes but after an appeal, another judge passed a death sentence for Fayadh three days ago, said Coogle. “If he wasn’t from this background they wouldn’t jail him in this unusual way; they put him in jail without even being seen by a judge – without anyone speaking to him except for his father”. According to The Guardian, Fayadh does not have legal representation, and has just 30 days to appeal against the ruling. On social media, Fayadh’s friends have alleged that when police were unable to prove his atheism, they became critical of his long hair and smoking habit.
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The Palestinian poet was also detained in the summer of 2013 after 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 told The Guardian the complaint arose from a personal dispute with another artist during a discussion about contemporary art in a cafe in Abha. He added that the book, Instructions Within, published in 2008, was “just about me being [a] Palestinian refugee … about cultural and philosophical issues”. The religious police went to the café after a man reported that Fayadh had made obscene comments about God, the Prophet Muhammad, and the Saudi state.
After Fayadh was arrested, the court documents indicate, the religious police discovered on his phone photos of Fayadh with several women, whom Fayadh said he met at an art gallery. These are basic human rights that are being trampled upon by Saudi Arabia.
The case highlights the tensions between hardline religious conservatives and the small but growing number of artists and activists who are tentatively pushing the boundaries of freedom of speech in Saudi Arabia, where cinema is banned and there are no art schools. Artists told the media that Fayadh is responsible for showing the world Saudi contemporary art.
Ashraf Fayadh with a man at an art opening during Jeddah art week.
The poet was a leading figure in the country’s contemporary art scene and had curated shows in Jeddah and at the Venice Biennale before he was arrested, The Guardian said. He’s a truly wonderful, kind person.
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“This death sentence against Fayadh is yet another indictment of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record”, Whitson said.
