"Osama Khalid was just twelve years old when he began contributing to Wikipedia Arabic. In the height of the blogging era, he became a prolific blogger, publishing writings on his home country of Saudi Arabia, meetups he attended, and his opinions and observations about open source technology and freedom of expression. He advocated for internet freedom, contributed time and translations to various projects-including EFF's HTTPS Everywhere -and was a thoughtful presence at the conferences he attended around the world...all while training to become a pediatrician."
"In July of 2020, he was detained amid a wave of arbitrary arrests carried out by the Saudi authorities during the Covid-19 lockdown and initially given a five-year prison sentence. That sentence was later increased on appeal to 32 years, then reduced in 2023 to 25 years, and again to 14 years this past September. In a that we signed on to in April, the Saudi human rights organization joint letter ALQST, which has been leading the campaign for Osama's release, wrote: "The huge discrepancy between sentences handed down at different stages in the case underscores the arbitrary manner in which sentencing is carried out in the Saudi judicial system.""
"So, what was his "crime"? Sharing information online that conflicted with official narratives. Osama's Wikipedia contributions included pages on critical human rights issues in Saudi Arabia, including the treatment of women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul (herself an EFF client) and Saudi Arabia's infamous al-Ha'ir prison . His blog, which has since been taken offline, included articles such as one criticizing government plans for the surveillance of encrypted platforms."
Osama Khalid began contributing to Arabic Wikipedia at age twelve and later became a prolific blogger during the blogging era. He wrote about Saudi Arabia, meetups, and his views on open source technology and freedom of expression. He advocated for internet freedom, contributed time and translations to multiple projects including EFF’s HTTPS Everywhere, and participated thoughtfully in conferences worldwide while training to become a pediatrician. In July 2020, Saudi authorities detained him during COVID-19 lockdowns and initially sentenced him to five years. The sentence increased to 32 years on appeal, was reduced to 25 years in 2023, and was reduced again to 14 years in September. His “crime” involved sharing online information that conflicted with official narratives, including Wikipedia pages and blog posts about human rights issues and encrypted-platform surveillance.
Read at Electronic Frontier Foundation
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