Joint appeal for international protection for Saudi human rights defender detained in Bulgaria for over four years

We, the undersigned civil society organisations, are gravely concerned by the imminent threat to Saudi human rights defender Abdulrahman AlBakr al-Khalidi of deportation after over four years in detention from Bulgaria to Saudi Arabia, where he would be at real risk of serious human rights violations due to his peaceful activism. We urge the Bulgarian authorities to immediately halt al-Khalidi’s deportation in accordance with their legal obligations under international, European and domestic law, release him from detention, and grant him international protection through a fair and impartial asylum process.

Al-Khalidi has been trapped in a prolonged asylum process in Bulgaria since November 2021 and has faced a deportation order since 2024. On 15 July 2025 Bulgaria’s Supreme Administrative Court rejected al-Khalidi’s appeal against his detention order, placing him at imminent risk.

Al-Khalidi began his peaceful activism during the 2011 Arab Spring by joining the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) and participating in pro-reform protests. Following a wave of arrests of fellow activists in 2013, and after being summoned for interrogation himself, he fled Saudi Arabia and continued his advocacy in exile. He later joined dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s “Electronic Bees Army”, a project aimed at countering state disinformation. In 2021, facing escalating threats in Turkey, al-Khalidi decided to seek asylum in the European Union. However, he was arrested upon arrival in Bulgaria shortly after crossing the Turkish-Bulgarian border on 23 October 2021. He has since spent over four years in detention – which according to public data from the European Court of Human Rights is one of the longest periods for any asylum seeker in Europe – most of it under harsh and degrading conditions at Sofia’s Busmantsi Detention Centre. On 26 September 2025, the Directorate of Migration decided to extend al-Khalidi's detention for another six months.

On 16 November 2021 al-Khalidi applied for asylum in Bulgaria, citing risks of serious human rights violations if returned to Saudi Arabia. However, the Bulgarian State Agency for Refugees rejected his application, claiming that Saudi Arabia had “taken measures to democratise society”. His appeal is ongoing.

Despite several court rulings in his favour, including final judgments ordering his release, the Bulgarian authorities have ignored or circumvented them. In February 2024 the National Security Agency issued an expulsion order against al-Khalidi, calling him, without evidence, a “national security threat”. This order, later upheld by the Sofia Administrative Court, violates the international principle of non-refoulement as there is a well-documented risk that, if returned to Saudi Arabia, al-Khalidi would face torture, an unfair trial, and possibly the death penalty.

In detention al-Khalidi has reportedly faced repeated ill-treatments including psychological pressure and physical abuse. In March 2024 the human rights defender reported that he was brutally beaten by police officers. He has attempted suicide, gone on a hunger strike that lasted more than 100 days, and been diagnosed with complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD). Despite concerns raised by Bulgarian courts, UN experts, NGOs and members of the European Parliament, the Bulgarian authorities continue to detain him unlawfully and threaten him with deportation.

A study on the transnational repression of human rights defenders, published on 12 June 2025 by the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI), highlighted the case of al-Khalidi as a key example of the tactic of detention used in physical transnational repression.

Deporting al-Khalidi to Saudi Arabia would constitute a grave violation of Bulgaria’s commitments under international, European Union (EU) and domestic law, including its own constitution, which states that Bulgaria shall grant asylum to foreigners persecuted for their opinions and activity in defence of internationally recognised rights and freedoms.

We, the undersigned organisations, therefore call on the Bulgarian authorities to:

1. immediately and unconditionally release Abdulrahman al-Khalidi in accordance with judicial rulings made in the Bulgarian courts;
2. guarantee that he will not be deported to Saudi Arabia, or any country where he risks onward refoulement;
3. facilitate his resettlement in a safe third country, in coordination with international partners;
4. launch an independent investigation into his ill-treatment in detention, including the March 2024 beating, and hold those responsible to account; and
5. ensure that Bulgaria’s asylum system complies with EU and international human rights standards, preventing future violations of this kind.

And relating to the European Union (EU), we call on:

1. the European Commission to assess suspending or reprogramming any European support linked to pre-removal detention centers in Bulgaria until full compliance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFR) is ensured;
2. the European Commission to conduct a review of any possible European Commission support linked to Busmantsi Detention Centre to assess its compliance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFR);
3. the European Parliament (LIBE/DROI committees) to hold an urgent session and organise a fact-finding mission to Busmantsi Detention Centre; and
4. the Council (FREMP group) to include this case on the agenda;

SIGNATORIES:

1. ALQST for Human Rights
2. Bayerischer Flüchtlingsrat - Bavarian Refugee Council
3. Center for Legal Aid – Voice in Bulgaria (CLA)
4. Collettivo Rotte Balcaniche
5. DAWN
6. European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR)
7. Freedom House
8. Front Line Defenders
9. Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
10. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
11. International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
12. Law and Democracy Support Foundation (LDSF)
13. Melting Pot Europe
14. MENA Rights Group
15. Middle East Democracy Center (MEDC)
16. Migrant Solidarity in Bulgaria
17. Mission Wings
18. Münchner Flüchtlingsrat - Munich Refugee Council
19. No Name Kitchen
20. Orion Grid for Leadership and Authority
21. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders