The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) welcomes the news that Saudi human rights defender Abdulrahman Al-Khalidi was released from detention in Bulgaria. On 21 August 2026, the Bulgarian Migration Directorate authorities in Sofia released Al-Khalidi from administrative detention. Al-Khalidi’s case is only one example of several cases of transnational repression in the MENA region that have been documented by GCHR.

GCHR learned that Al-Khalidi was transferred from the closed detention centre in Lyubimets to Sofia Migration Directorate. Al-Khalidi was then released from his detention, which lasted about five years, during which he endured grave conditions which affected his health and wellbeing. His legal status remains as an asylum seeker in Bulgaria.

As per Bulgarian Law, Al-Khalidi exceeded the legal duration of detention of 18 months. The law declares that if he was detained for over 18 months, he must be released. However, he was kept in detention for lengthy years without any legal basis. International law grants everyone the right to seek asylum and prohibits arbitrary and prolonged detention.

Al-Khalidi’s prolonged detention violated several Migration authorities’ orders that he be released. The case has been largely dealt with in Bulgarian courts and the media. GCHR has been relentlessly collaborating with other human rights organisations and activists, in addition to various international mechanisms including the UN system, to advocate for his release and stop his deportation back to Saudi Arabia where his life would be at imminent risk.

Al-Khalidi is a human rights defender who had to leave his country Saudi Arabia in 2013 due to legitimate fears for his life and liberty. The escalating restrictions and security crackdowns on civil society activists affected his close circle.

He was active online in advocating for the release of prisoners of conscience in Saudi Arabia and for the protection of freedoms and rights. His association with several other human rights activists in exile made his situation particularly dangerous. The Saudi authorities have been relentlessly targeting dissidents or critics, including those living abroad.

After leaving Saudi Arabia, he has moved between several countries including Egypt, Qatar and Turkey. On 23 October 2021, he entered Bulgaria on foot, crossing the Turkish border, seeking international protection from persecution in his home country. However, authorities in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, immediately detained him and placed him in the Posmantsi detention centre near Sofia Airport, claiming he had entered the country illegally.

Al-Khalidi formally applied for asylum on 16 November 2021, but his application was rejected by the Refugee Agency and Security services, who classified him as a “threat to national security.” This resulted in his detention in the administrative detention centre in the town of Lyubimets in southern Bulgaria for the past several years.

While GCHR is relieved that Al-Khalidi has been released, we still acknowledge the personal cost he had to endure for years in Bulgaria just for exercising his right to seek asylum. We call on the Bulgarian authorities to take some reparation measures and follow a fair legal procedure in his asylum case.

GCHR values the effective advocacy efforts carried out on his case. There is no doubt that his release is the outcome of coordination and collaboration between all the concerned parties focused on his case and aimed at protecting rights and freedoms for all.

Recommendations

GCHR is calling on the Bulgarian authorities to:

1. Make a timely decision on human rights defender Abdulrahman Al-Khalidi’s asylum case and prevent his deportation back to Saudi Arabia;
2. Investigate his unlawful and lengthy detention and hold those involved accountable; and
3. Ensure that he is properly compensated and protected while his case is being reviewed.