The Kingdom of Norway has expressed its concern regarding the serious situation of human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia.
In his speech before the human rights council (HRC) at its thirty-seventh session on 14 March 2018, Mr. Hans Brattskar, the Ambassador of Norway stated that the prosecution of journalists and human rights defenders was unacceptable and must be ended.
The Ambassador also called on governments to respect the right of individuals to express their opinion and to demonstrate peacefully, and to be protected against arbitrary detention due to the exercise of their rights.
Norway granted human rights defender Mohammed Al-Otaibi the right to asylum in May 2017 after he was prosecuted by Saudi Arabia for his human rights activities. However, the Qatari government arrested him from Doha airport during his travel to Norway and handed him over to Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Al-Otaibi was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment.