Abdullah al-Hamid

Abdullah al-Hamid

Abdullah Hamid Ali al-Hamid (Arabic: عبد الله حامد علي الحامد) or Abu Bilal (12 July 1950 – 24 April 2020) was a Saudi poet, Arabic professor, human rights activist and a co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA). He was in prison many times for supporting the creation of a constitutional monarchy in Saudi Arabia.[1] He was born in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia.

In 2018, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, together with other jailed activists and Waleed Abulkhair for "their visionary and courageous efforts, guided by universal human rights principles, to reform the totalitarian political system in Saudi Arabia."

al-Hamid was hospitalized after being electrocuted while in prison in Riyadh on 9 April 2020.[2] He died of a stroke while in a coma on 24 April 2020, aged 69.[3]

References

  1. "Saudi Arabia punishes two activists for voicing opinion". Amnesty International. 11 March 2013. Archived from the original on 12 March 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  2. "Prisoner of conscience in coma in Saudi Arabia still detained during COVID-19". www.amnesty.org. 17 April 2020. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  3. "وفاة المعتقل السعودي عبد الله الحامد.. "شيخ الإصلاحيين"" [Saudi detainee, master of reformists, Abdullah al-Hamid died]. Arabi21 (in العربية). 24 April 2020. Archived from the original on 25 April 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.