Reporters Without Borders urges internal probe into Saudi journalist’s death

“We demand an independent international inquiry under the UN’s aegis to shed all possible light on a possible link between Saleh al-Shehi’s death and the conditions in which he was held,” said Sabrina Bennoui, the head of RSF’s Middle East desk. “His sudden release two months before he died raises doubts and requires explanations and transparency on the part of the Saudi authorities. If he fell ill in prison, they must assume full responsibility.” Shehi, a well-known columnist for the reformist daily al-Watan, often wrote about poverty in Saudi Arabia as well as nepotism within the ruling elite and called for a debate about alleged reforms in the kingdom. In December 2017, he was arrested for talking about corruption within the royal court on the Saudi TV channel Rotana’s program “Ya Hala”. In February 2018, the journalist was sentenced to five years of imprisonment followed by a five-year ban on leaving the country for “insulting the royal court.” Shehi, however, was released on May 19. His health condition deteriorated quickly thereafter and led to his death on July 19. His illness has not been formally named, but the Saudi newspaper al-Riyadh spoke of three weeks of complications resulting from the COVID-19 infection. The Prisoners of Conscience, an independent nongovernmental organization advocating human rights in Saudi Arabia, announced the journalist’s death in a post on its Twitter page. Shehi was described as “the proletariat’s writer” by his friend Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident Saudi journalist, who was brutally murdered inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. “Saleh al-Shehi is courageous,” Khashoggi said a few months before his killing. “Those who want to be independent and raise awareness go abroad where they can speak freely, but Saleh al-Shehi committed a suicide by staying and writing articles" in Saudi Arabia. Earlier this month, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Execution Agnes Callamard said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is the prime suspect in ordering and inciting Khashoggi’s murder.Abdullah al-Odeh, son of imprisoned Saudi cleric Salman al-Odeh, said Shehi's death was the latest tragedy in a line of deaths of prominent anti-regime journalists. "May God have mercy on Saleh al-Shehi who died today... after being released from prison," he tweeted. "May God have mercy on Abdullah Hamid, who died on the floor of his cell due to medical negligence. May God have mercy on Jamal Khashoggi, who they killed in the consulate." Writer and activist Abdullah Hamid died in April in prison, where he was serving an 11-year sentence on charges including “undermining national unity, disobeying the ruler, and questioning the integrity of officials”. Saudi Arabia is ranked 170th out of 180 countries and territories in RSF's 2020 World Press Freedom Index. Ever since bin Salman became Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader in 2017, the kingdom has arrested dozens of activists, bloggers, intellectuals and others perceived as political opponents, showing almost zero tolerance for dissent even in the face of international condemnations of the crackdown.