Areej al-Sadhan is a U.S. citizen living in California. Her brother Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, a humanitarian aid worker and a graduate from a Bay Area University with a Business Degree, was kidnapped from his office at the Red Crescent in Riyadh by Saudi authorities during a mass crackdown on critics and human right activists in 2018.
He was brutally tortured and held incommunicado for over three years. He remains imprisoned to this day. Since his detention he has been allowed only two short phone calls with his father, the first taking place after two years of forcible disappearance.
After three years without charge or access to a lawyer, he was brought to a secret sham trial and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment followed by a 20 year travel ban – based on nothing but satirical tweets critical of the Saudi regime. The U.S. Speaker of the House and the U.S. State Department both condemned his unjust imprisonment and sentencing.
al-Sadhan has been working tirelessly to demand justice and the release of her brother. She has spoken at several side events at the U.N. and at a U.S. Congressional press conferences besides other events, expressing concern about the worsening human rights situation in Saudi Arabia.
