Ahmed al-Gizawi

Ahmed al-Gizawi (), also known as Ahmed Mohammed Tharwat Al-Sayyid, is an Egyptian human rights lawyer and activist. His arrest in Saudi Arabia in April 2012 caused heavy protests in Egypt.
Arrest
On 17 April 2012, al-Gizawi was detained shortly after his arrival in Saudi Arabia, which some believe was because he had filed a lawsuit in a South Cairo court against Saudi monarch King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz Al-Saud on behalf of Egyptian citizens held without charge in Saudi prisons. According to al-Gizawi's wife, he had arrived for a pilgrimage, not knowing he had been sentenced to a year in prison and 20 lashes for insulting the king.
However, Ahmed Kattan, the Saudi Ambassador to Egypt, in a statement released by the Saudi Embassy, said "The whole story is a complete fabrication." Kattan added, "No Saudi court has passed a sentence or one of flogging against the detained Egyptian ..." He also said "Saudi laws and regulations do not permit the authorities to put a non-Saudi citizen on trial in absentia for acts committed outside its territory."
Saudi officials said that al-Gizawi had been arrested at the King Abdulaziz International Airport near Jeddah on 17 April for possession of 21,000 Xanax anti-anxiety pills, which are banned in the country.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu