WORLD NEWS APRIL 24, 2020 / 12:55 PM / UPDATED 36 MINUTES AGO

Prominent Saudi rights activist dies in prison: sources

Aziz El Yaakoubi
3 MIN READ

DUBAI (Reuters) - Prominent Saudi Arabian rights activist Abdullah al-Hamid, imprisoned since 2013, died on Thursday, activists and a source close to him told Reuters.

Hamid, 69, died in the King Saud Medical City in Riyadh, having suffered a stroke on Apr. 9 in prison, London-based Saudi rights group ALQST told Reuters. The news was also confirmed by a close friend of Hamid’s who asked to remain anonymous owing to the sensitivity of the matter.

Hamid was one of the 11 founding members of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), a group that documented human rights abuses and called for a constitutional monarchy. The group was disbanded in 2013 and all of its members eventually sentenced by Saudi courts on charges relating to the group’s activities.

Hamid was arrested seven times, the last time in 2013, along with another founding member of ACPRA. He was sentenced in 2013 to 11 years in prison on charges including breaking allegiance to the ruler, questioning the integrity of officials, seeking to disrupt security and inciting disorder by calling for demonstrations, and instigating international organizations against the Kingdom.

-snip-