ALQST has learned that Egyptian businessman Sulaiman Labib Sulaiman, a foreign investor resident in Saudi Arabia, is still being held arbitrarily in Jazan Prison despite documented court orders for his release dating back to 2016. 

According to his family, the courts found him not guilty on charges brought by businessmen who owed him money under sukuk, Islamic bonds issued for project financing, and who had been ordered by the Sharia courts to pay up.

All members of Sulaiman’s family have been deported, making it difficult for them to follow up his case in Saudi Arabia and pursue his right to be released, though they have made constant appeals to all the relevant official bodies.

Meanwhile Sulaiman, who suffers from high blood pressure, diabetes and a liver complaint, is in declining health without the necessary medical care and with hygiene conditions in the prison worsening.

The businessman’s plight gives rise to concerns regarding what can happen to foreign investors – whom the Saudi authorities are actively wooing and trying to attract – in the absence of an independent and impartial judiciary, in addition to repressive laws that are likely to deter any investor from seeking justice in the event of disputes arising. The judicial system is managed by the authorities and subject to external influence and interference, and its rulings can be overturned. Domestic politics and differences between rival branches or members of the royal family can also play a part in cases like that of Sulaiman.

ALQST calls for the release of foreign investor Sulaiman Labib Sulaiman in accordance with the verdicts finding him innocent and the orders made for his release; for an end to his arbitrary detention after so many years; and for him to be reunited with his family and obtain the medical care he needs.