Case Update 18 MEPs send formal letter to Bulgarian PM demanding release
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Media Kit

Press materials, biography, case facts, published writings, and contacts for journalists, editors, NGOs, and campaign partners.

Status update

Detention has passed four and a half years. Case pending before the European Court of Human Rights (No. 26364/24). Two court release orders — neither executed.

Biography

Who is Abdulrahman Al-Khalidi?

Abdulrahman Al-Khalidi (born 1993, Riyadh) is a Saudi journalist and human rights defender. From 2011 to 2013, he was an active member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) and participated in peaceful civil society campaigns including “Prisoners Until When”, calling for constitutional governance in Saudi Arabia.

Facing intensifying state repression, he was forced to leave Saudi Arabia in 2013. He spent subsequent years in Turkey (where his family remains), Qatar, and Egypt, continuing his advocacy and journalism in exile. He became associated with the network of Saudi dissidents and journalists around Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed by Saudi state agents in October 2018.

In October 2021, following the expiry of his travel documents (which he could not renew without risk of Khashoggi’s fate at a Saudi consulate), he travelled on foot to Bulgaria and immediately applied for asylum. He has been in administrative immigration detention since that date — first at the Busmantsi detention centre in Sofia, later transferred to Lyubimets. He has never been charged with a criminal offence. Bulgarian courts have ordered his release twice; neither order was executed by the security services.

From detention, he has continued writing: essays, letters, and geopolitical analysis published in Bulgarian, English, Italian, and Arabic, in outlets including Marginalia, Melting Pot Europa, Substack, and News.bg.

At a glance
Born1993, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
ProfessionJournalist & human rights defender
DetainedOctober 2021 — present
LocationLyubimets detention centre, Bulgaria
ECHR caseNo. 26364/24 — pending
Release orders2 court orders — not executed
Criminal chargeNone
LanguagesArabic (native), English, Bulgarian
Press photos

Images

Abdulrahman Al-Khalidi portrait
Press portrait
Abdulrahman Al-Khalidi in detention
During detention period
Abdulrahman Al-Khalidi
Portrait

To request high-resolution press images, please use the contact form or email the campaign team via the contact page.

Case summary

The Case in Five Points

Prolonged detention
Over four and a half years of administrative immigration detention without criminal charge, in breach of Bulgarian and EU law on the maximum duration of detention.
Defied court orders
Two court orders for immediate release (18 January 2024 and 26 March 2025). Neither was executed. The State Agency for National Security invoked undisclosed national-security grounds each time.
Supreme court pattern
The Supreme Administrative Court annulled three lower-court asylum refusals (2023–2025), finding procedural errors each time. The lower court repeated the same errors after each annulment.
Refoulement risk
If deported to Saudi Arabia, he faces a serious risk of arbitrary detention, torture, and unfair trial due to his political opinions and human rights work. HRW, Amnesty, FIDH, and 20+ organisations have publicly stated this.
ECHR case
Al-Khalidi v. Bulgaria (No. 26364/24) is pending before the European Court of Human Rights, communicated to the respondent Government in April 2025.
SIS alert & constructive refoulement
A Schengen Information System alert and national-security classification block any third-country resettlement offer, creating what the author terms “constructive refoulement” — publicly claiming openness to resettlement while making it structurally impossible.
Published writings

Selected articles

Written from detention. Full archive at writings.html.

Писмо от Бусманци

Marginalia, 27 Jun 2024 · Bulgarian · The first widely circulated open letter from inside Busmantsi detention centre.

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The iron cage of asylum: a philosophical inquiry into the spirit of detention

Melting Pot Europa, Jan 2025 · English · Essay on asylum, detention, and the structures of institutional harm.

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Good news, but I remain in prison

Melting Pot Europa, Jun 2025 · English · Statement after the Supreme Administrative Court ruling that did not lead to release.

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If Non-Refoulement Is Absolute, Why Am I Still Detained?

Substack, Feb 2026 · English · Legal and personal essay on non-refoulement obligations and their violation.

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Caught Between Empires: The Gulf’s Impossible Position

Substack, Mar 2026 · English · Geopolitical analysis of Gulf strategic autonomy amid shifting alliances.

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Selected press coverage

In the media

Foreign Policy · Sep 2024
A Hunger Strike in the Schengen Zone
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Mediapart · Nov 2024
Un activiste saoudien mené: L’Arabie saoudite a le bras long en Europe
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Balkan Insight · Apr 2025
Bulgaria Still Detaining Saudi Activist Despite Court Release Order
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View full media archive →

Contact

For journalists & NGOs

For press enquiries, interview requests, high-resolution images, or campaign partnership, please use the contact page. The campaign team includes legal counsel, international human rights NGO contacts, and campaign coordinators.

Counsel: Hristo Vasilev (Vasilev, Dobrinov & Associates). International contacts: Front Line Defenders (case officer: Tajana), MENA Rights Group, Amnesty Ireland, ALQST.

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