Issa Al‑Hamid (also known as Essa Al-Hamid) is a Saudi Arabian lawyer and human rights activist who co‑founded the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, an independent civil society group calling for political reform and civil liberties in Saudi Arabia. On 24 April 2016, he was sentenced by the Specialised Criminal Court to nine years in prison, a nine‑year travel ban and a fine of 100 000 Saudi Riyals (around 25 000 dollars) for charges including defaming the Council of Religious Scholars, insulting the judiciary, participating in an unlicensed organisation and communicating with international bodies to harm the image of the state. On 01 December 2016, his sentence was increased on appeal to 11 years in prison, an 11‑year travel ban and the same financial penalty. He was arrested on 16 September 2017 and has been detained in Buraydah / Onazya Prison in Al‑Qassim region since then. His prosecution followed a prolonged interrogation and trial between late  2013 and mid‑2014, during which he was denied legal counsel and subjected to ill‑treatment. In November 2019 the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention officially declared his arrest and imprisonment arbitrary persecution for exercising his fundamental rights and called for his immediate release