Urgent! Open Letter On Humanitarian Visa for Dissident Abdulrahman al-Khalidi

Detailed Timeline of Abdulrahman al-Khalidi's Case

2011-2013: Journalist Abdulrahman al-Khalidi is an active human-rights defender and member of the peaceful democratic opposition in his home country of Saudi Arabia, subject to progressively escalating repression by the dictatorial regime, including  torture and death sentences, which forces him to emigrate to Turkey with his wife and children;

2013-2021: Abdulrahman continues his advocay work remotely and joins the online Bees Movement launched by renowned human rights defender Jamal Khashoggi, a colleague and personal acquaintance of Abdulrahman's.  Following Khashoggi's brutal executuin by the Saudi regime at the consulate in Turkey in 2018 and the expiry of his family's papers, Abdulrahman is forced to choose between 1- risking entrance in the same consulate to get the papers renewed, with high chances of facing Khashooggi's fate, and 2- fleeing to Europe;

25 October 2021: Abdulrahman is arrested in Bulgaria shortly after crossing the border from Turkey;

16 November 2021: Abdulrahman applies for asylum in Bulgaria;

25 November 2021: Abdulrahman is transferred to the Busmantsi detention centre near Sofia, Bulgaria;

14 February 2022: Abdulrahman appeal against his administrative detention is rejected; this decision cannot be appealed;

27 May 2022: The Bulgarian State Agency for Refugees (SAR) rejects Abdulrahman's asylum application;

9 June 2022: Abdulrahmani appeals the rejection of his asylum application to the Sofia Administrative Court;

20 February 2023: The Sofia Administrative Court rejects Abdulrahmani's appeal;

13 March 2023: Abdulrahman appeals the rejection of his asylum application to the Supreme Administrative Court;

11 May 2023: MENA Rights Group submits Abdulrahman's case to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture;

19 September 2023: Abdulrahman is heard by the Supreme Administrative Court;

20 September 2023: MENA Rights Group submits al-Khalidi's case to UN Special Procedures mandate holders;

27 September 2023: the Supreme Administrative Court gives its verdict and decides to annul all lower decisions and send the case back to the lower courts for retrial due to procedural defects and errors;

12 December 2023: His case for asylum is heard again by the Sofia City Lower Administrative Court. The court decides to send his case back to SAR for reconsideration;

18 January 2024: Abdulrahman attends a hearing at the Administrative Court in Sofia regarding his detention. The decision is made very quickly the following day and his release by SAR is ordered;

22 January 2024: A non-motivated administrative decision is issued by the State Agency for National Security (SANS) denying his release;

26 January 2024: The Administrative Court rejects his release order;

7 February 2024: Abdulrahman is visited by an investigator from the SANS and handed an untranslated order for his immediate deportation; 

25 April 2024: The Supreme Court overturns the decision to deny him asylum and sends his case back to SAR for reconsideration, confirming SAR's right to ignore unsubstantiated claims by SANS; 

10 May 2024: Abdulrahman's appeal against the expulsion order to the Sofia City Administrative Court is postponed until 9 July;

23 May 2024: Abdulrahman submits a request for release to SAR. SAR has seven days to respond;

5 June 2024: SAR rejects the release request again referring to SANS's unsubstantiated claims of "threat to national security" and despite the rulings of the courts of last resort;

5 July 2024: Abdulrahman starts a hunger strike;

9 September 2024: Sofia City Administrative Court dismisses Abdulrahman's appeal against his detention in Busmanci on the grounds that some SANS statements are special and not subject to judicial review;

7 October 2024: A petition with over 1,100 signatures in support of Abdulrahman al-Khalidi's immediate release is submitted to the Office of the President and the Council of Ministers;