Ashraf Fayadh

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Ashraf Fayadh
أشرف فياض
Born1980
Saudi Arabia
Occupation(s)Artist and poet
Criminal charges apostasy
Criminal penalty
  • Beheading (original sentence; 2015; commuted)
  • Eight-year prison term with 800 lashes (subsequent replacement sentence)
Awards Oxfam Novib/PEN Award for Freedom of Expression (2017)

Ashraf Fayadh (Arabic : أشرف فياض; born 1980 in Saudi Arabia) is an artist and poet [1] of Palestinian origin. He is the son of refugees from Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip and lives in Saudi Arabia. He was active in the British-Arabian arts organization, Edge of Arabia, [2] and organized exhibitions of Saudi art in Europe and Saudi Arabia.

Contents

In November 2015, he was sentenced to death by beheading for apostasy. [3] [4] The Saudi court overturned the death sentence three months later, imposing an eight-year prison term with 800 lashes.

Conviction for apostasy

Worldwide Reading for Ashraf Fayadh on 14 January 2016 Worldwide Reading for Ashraf Fayadh on January 14, 2016, 7.30 p.m., at Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin.jpg
Worldwide Reading for Ashraf Fayadh on 14 January 2016

After an argument at a café, Fayadh was detained by religious police in Abha, Saudi Arabia, released on bail, then rearrested and tried in early 2014. [5] He was sentenced to four years in prison and 800 lashes. [5] A Saudi appeals court returned the case to the lower court where a new judge was assigned to the case. [6]

On 17 November 2015, Fayadh was sentenced to death by beheading for apostasy. [4] Evidence included several poems within his 2008 book Instructions Within, Twitter posts, and conversations Fayadh had in an Abha coffee shop, in which he was accused of having promoted atheism. [7] [8] [9]

In December 2015, Fayadh became Honorary Member of German PEN, combined with a new protest note. [10] In November 2015, the Berlin International Literature Festival published an appeal to support Ashraf Fayadh with a Worldwide Reading on 14 January 2016. [11] Adam Coogle, a Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch, said Fayadh's death sentence showed Saudi Arabia's "complete intolerance of anyone who may not share government-mandated religious, political and social views." [2] [9]

Following the international outcry, Fayadh's death sentence was commuted to eight years in prison and 800 lashes. [4] Fayadh was also required to repent through an announcement in official media. [12]

In January 2017, Fayadh shared the Oxfam Novib/PEN Award for Freedom of Expression with Malini Subramaniam. [13]

On August 23, 2022, Fayadh was released from prison after eight years and eight months. [14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Stoughton, India (28 March 2014). "Putting contemporary Saudi art in context". The Daily Star . Beirut. Archived from the original on 14 June 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 Batty, David (20 November 2015). "Saudi court sentences poet to death for renouncing Islam". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 21 November 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  3. ↑ Hubbard, Ben (22 November 2015). "Saudi Artist's Death Sentence Follows a String of Harsh Punishments". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 Fahim, Kareem (10 January 2018). "As Saudi Arabia relaxes its controls on culture and entertainment, artists dream — and worry". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Imprisoned Palestinian Poet Ashraf Fayadh wins PEN Canada One Humanity Award" (Press release). PEN Canada. 17 October 2017. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  6. ↑ Batty, David; Mahmood, Mona (2 February 2016). "Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh's death sentence quashed by Saudi court". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "Poet's Death Sentence Reduced to Jail Time, Flogging". PEN Center USA. Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  8. ↑ McDowall, Angus (20 November 2015). "Saudi Arabian court sentences Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh to death for apostasy". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  9. 1 2 McDowall, Angus; Evans, Dominic (20 November 2015). "Saudi court sentences Palestinian poet to death for apostasy: HRW". Reuters . Riyadh. Archived from the original on 29 November 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  10. ↑ "PEN verurteilt Todesstrafe gegen Dichter und PEN-Ehrenmitglied Ashraf Fayadh in Saudi-Arabien" [PEN condemns death sentence against poet and PEN honorary member Ashraf Fayadh in Saudi Arabia] (Press release) (in German). 2 December 2015. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  11. ↑ "Worldwide Reading of selected poems and other texts in support of Ashraf Fayadh". Worldwide Reading. 14 January 2014. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  12. ↑ Batty, David; Mahmood, Mona (2 February 2016). "Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh's death sentence quashed by Saudi court". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  13. ↑ "Ashraf Fayadh and Malini Subramaniam win the 2017 Oxfam Novib/PEN Awards for Freedom of Expression". Arablit. 20 January 2017. Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  14. ↑ https://www.uscirf.gov/religious-prisoners-conscience/forb-victims-database/ashraf-fayadh [ bare URL ]
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