ALQST for Human Rights-Political Prisoners

Personal information

Sex: Male
Date of birth: 19 January 1994
Area of activity: Blogger
Place of residence: Riyadh

Osama Khalid is a Saudi medical student in his early thirties. He has been active in the information technology field since 2006, and founded the Computer Club in 2013. He also managed the medical online cloud in which medical students bring their contributions in order to build a full library. Among his most prominent activities are his work on the Arabic Wikipedia encyclopedia and translation, in addition to writing on his personal blog. He is one of Saudi Arabia’s most public-facing and well-known internet freedom advocates. His own Wikipedia page states that his work as part of Wikipedia has had a huge impact on his life, and that defending and promoting internet freedom was one of his priorities.

Arrest and jail information

Prison: Al-Ha’ir Prison, Riyadh
Date of arrest: July 2020

Trial information

Charges: He was tried on charges related to provoking public opinion.
Court: Specialised Criminal Court (SCC)
Verdict: He was initially sentenced to five years in prison. On appeal, the sentence was increased to 32 years, then reduced to 25 years, and ultimately to 14 years.

Violations

Arbitrary arrest/ detention ,
Observers denied access to court hearings

Timeline

2 September 2025 - His sentence was reduced from 25 to 14 years.
2023 - His sentence was reduced from 32 to 25 years.
Mid-2022 - He was sentenced to a jail term of 32 years – increased on appeal from an initial five-year sentence – following allegations relating to the right of free speech.
2 August 2020 - Osama Khalid and his fellow doctor and Wikipedian Ziyad Al-Sufyani were swept up in a wave of arbitrary arrests.