For two weeks, a Saudi asylum seeker and opposition figure has been on hunger strike in Bulgaria. He has been detained for three years and is at risk of being deported to Riyadh at any time. He accuses the Bulgarian authorities of violating the European Convention on Human Rights and is calling for his immediate release.
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“ I started an indefinite hunger strike on 5 July to protest the Bulgarian authorities’ violation of my rights, European laws and international treaties. “, Abd al-Rahman al-Khalidi from the center. I will continue my hunger strike until these demands are met. ” assured the Saudi, warning that ” Any attempt to end the hunger strike by force (…) would have serious repercussions “.
Abdulrahman Al-Khalidi is 29 years old. In 2011, in the wake of the Arab Spring, he took part in demonstrations in Saudi ArabiaHe has been involved in numerous campaigns to demand reforms within the Kingdom and is particularly involved in defending the rights of Saudi political prisoners.
While many of his comrades were arrested and tortured, he fled Türkiye in 2013 where he continued to campaign for the rights of Saudis, then he joined the Bulgaria and applied for asylum.
It was upon arriving in Bulgaria that he was placed in detention in 2021. A year later, the Bulgarian authorities rejected his asylum application. The young man then made several appeals in order not to be deported to Saudi Arabia where he would risk being tortured, according to theNGO Amnesty International.
But last April, the Bulgarian courts ordered the refugee agency to review the case, ruling out the risk of imminent deportation. A new hearing is scheduled for September. In the meantime, Abdulrahman al Khalid has been in detention for nearly three years, an illegal period during which he claims he was subjected to physical and psychological pressure that led him to attempt suicide two years ago.