Saudi activist held in Bulgaria announces hunger strike

A Saudi dissident seeking asylum in Bulgaria said Wednesday he had begun an indefinite hunger strike to secure his release from detention.

"I began an open-ended hunger strike on July 5 in protest of the Bulgarian authorities' violation of my human rights, European laws, and international treaties," Abd al-Rahman al-Khalidi told AFP.

He was speaking by phone from the detention centre in Sofia where he has been held for nearly three years.

He called on Bulgarian authorities to "immediately and unconditionally release" him.

"I will continue my hunger strike until these demands are met," he said. "Any attempt to end the hunger strike by force without meeting my demands will lead to serious repercussions."

But in an email to AFP, Bulgaria's State Refugee Agency (SAR) said: "With regard to the claims that he has started a hunger strike, at present SAR officials do not confirm that Mr. Al-Khalidi has stopped eating."

The agency "takes seriously any signal by asylum seekers... about human rights violations", it said. "Measures are taken if violations are found."

- Fighting deportation -

In 2011, Khalidi was active during rare demonstrations in eastern Saudi Arabia, where the country's Shiite minority is concentrated, following the Middle East's Arab Spring uprisings.

He fled to Turkey in 2013, then travelled on foot to Bulgaria in 2021 when his passport expired, seeking protection in the European Union.

Bulgarian authorities decided in 2022 that he had not adequately demonstrated he would face persecution back home, said a Bulgarian lawyer who worked on the case, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In February, Khalidi received a deportation order to return to Saudi Arabia, which he appealed.

The administrative court in the capital Sofia decided on July 5 to postpone hearing his appeal until September.

But Bulgaria's Supreme Administrative Court has since ordered a review of the State Refugee Agency's initial refusal to grant him asylum.

It found the rejection of his application had been based on "an unjustified opinion" by the State Agency for National Security that he posed "a threat to national security".

Rights group Bulgarian Helsinki Committee has been campaigning on behalf of Khalidi.

Its chairwoman Adela Kachaunova could not immediately confirm Wednesday if his hunger strike was continuing but, she argued, "his detention remains excessive".

Amnesty International argued in March that if deported, Khalidi would be at "risk of torture and other serious human rights violations due to his political opinions and activism".

Rights groups and activists say that under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has witnessed a severe crackdown on dissent.

Khalidi's fears for his safety intensified last year when Hassan al-Rabie, a fellow Saudi dissident, was extradited from Morocco, where he had sought temporary refuge.