Dawoud al-Marhoon is a Saudi Arabian citizen who participated in the Saudi Arabian protests during the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

as a teenager. He was arrested on May 22, 2012 and was sentenced to death in September 2014, after which he was held in prison while awaiting ratification of his sentence by King Abdullah and then King

Salman Salman may refer to: People * Salman (name), people with the name Places in Iran * Salman, Khuzestan, a village in Khuzestan Province * Salman, alternate name of Deh-e Salman, Lorestan, a village in Lorestan Province * Salman, Razavi Khorasa ...

Early life

Dawoud was born in

Al-Awamiyah Al-Awamia, also spelled Al-Awamiyah, ( ') is a town in the Qatif Governorate, located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Geography Al-Awamia is an ancient town overlooking the Persian Gulf, located at the northern end of the Qatif oasis i ...

and attended Altarfih al-Sahil High School. He has a mother and a younger sister, but his father died when he was young. As a teenager, Dawood was sociable and popular. He loved playing

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

computer games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

. He excelled in his studies and dreamed of pursuing his love for technology and computers by pursuing a degree in

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

Arab Spring and arrest

Dawoud participated in the 2011–12 Saudi Arabian protests during the

. Originally, in March 2012, he was questioned by Saudi police and asked to be an informant and report details about fellow protesters. After he refused, Saudi security forces arrested him from the Dammam Central Hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for an eye injury sustained in a traffic accident. Saudi forces surrounded the hospital and arrested him as he prepared for surgery. At the time of Dawoud's arrest, he was 17. He was one of three minors (along with Ali al-Nimr and Abdullah al-Zaher, 16 and 17, respectively) arrested for offences committed while participating in anti-government protests in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province in 2012. All three were sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) in 2014 after what have been characterized as "flawed trials". During his arrest, Dawoud was allegedly forced to sign a confession, which was later relied upon to convict him. According to Reprieve, he was arrested without a warrant and tortured. Legal conditions of Dawoud's case included refusal by authorities of regular access to his lawyer. Governments, activists, and human rights organizations all around the world condemned the Saudi government for the three boys' arrest, detainment and sentences.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

led a campaign for authorities not to execute them. After the death penalty for crimes committed by minors was revoked by royal decree in 2020, in August that same year, the public prosecutor ordered a review of Dawoud, Ali and Abdullah's sentences. Finally, in February 2021, the Saudi Arabian Specialized Criminal Court commuted the death sentence of Dawoud, Ali and Abdullah and re-sentenced them to 10-year prison terms inclusive of time served, meaning that they could be released in 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marhoon, Dawoud 1995 births Living people Saudi Arabian human rights activists Saudi Arabian prisoners sentenced to death Saudi Arabian torture victims Saudi Arabian dissidents People of the 2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests

Early life

Arab Spring and arrest

See also

References