User:Nederlandse Leeuw/Fahad al-Fahad

Fahad al-Fahad (born 11 October 1982 ) is a former business consultant and Saudi Arabian human rights activist currently imprisoned for activism. Al-Fahad was sentenced to five years in prison for tweeting about the criminal justice system and corruption in Saudi Arabia.

Education
In 2007, Al-Fahad graduated from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran with a bachelor's degree in marketing. He followed that up with a graduate degree in advertising and marketing from the University of Hull in England.

Political activism
Soon after his return from Hull to Saudi Arabia in 2011, Fahad worked as labor consultant in Jeddah where he was active in getting educated women into the workforce. While working with the Saudi Ministry of Labour, al-Fahad connected with Waleed Sami Abu AlKhair where he joined Abu al-Kahir's salon, Smood. Also in 2012, al-Fahad accompanied Samar Badawi to Sweden to accept the Olof Palme Prize for her then-husband. The following year al-Fahad took part in a workshop in Lebanon organized by Bahrain Human Rights Society.

Arrest and imprisonment
On 6 April 2016, Fahad was arrested by Saudi authorities. The Specialised Criminal Court, set up in 2008 to deal with terrorism suspects, held five hearing sessions with him over the course of two months. In January 2017, the Court sentenced him in to five years in prison, plus a 10-year travel ban, and a lifetime ban on writing and social media activity. He was convicted for "inciting hostility against the state, its structure, and its justice systems." The sentence was based on Saudi Arabia's terrorism (3 years) and cybercrime (2 years) laws.

Al-Fahad is currently being held detention in al-Dhahban prison north of Jeddah with other Saudi dissidents.