In Oman, the freedom of expression of many journalists and human rights activists is constantly under threat. The latter are subject to constant attacks by the authorities, and arrests on charges of “misuse of social media” are quite frequent within the country. Recently, the Muscat Court of Appeal upheld a sentence against a very prominent activist, Awad Al-Sawafi. The latter had long been persecuted by the country’s authorities for his activities, and the sentence he has now been confirmed is based on baseless accusations and stems from an unfair trial.
Always very active on social media, Al-Sawafi had become known for his awareness-raising activities regarding human rights in Oman. In June 2020, he was called to appear before the Special Division of the Omani Police Command in the city of Ibri. As soon as he arrived, he was immediately arrested on charges of “incitement” and “misuse of social media”. These charges stem from a series of comments Al-Sawafi had made on Twitter about too much power in the hands of the country’s government.
This was not the first time Al-Sawafi had faced this kind of accusation. In 2012, for example, he had been sentenced to one year in prison for defaming Sultan Qaboos bin Said. In 2013, however, he medizinrezeptfrei24.de href=”https://www.gc4hr.org/prominent-human-rights-defender-awad-al-sawafi-continuously-targeted/”>was arrested without the authorities giving him a valid reason for the arrest or any concrete charges being brought against him. In this case, Al-Sawafi had to spend 19 days in solitary confinement without any investigation or trial.
In September 2021, Al-Sawafi was transferred to the Legal Affairs Department of the same ministry he worked for in the role of clerk. This is clearly a radical change that has nothing to do with the role of legal affairs researcher that Al-Sawafi previously held. His work in this department continued until 2024, when he was relieved of his post. This decision came despite the level of preparation and experience he had accumulated over the years. In addition to this, Al-Sawafi’s authorisation to represent the ministry was cancelled, and he was transferred to the human resources department to work as an administrative assistant.
These sudden changes are clearly a malicious attempt by the ministry to punish Al-Sawafi for his activism and harsh comments against the Omani government. In the face of all this, he submitted a request to the Administrative Court in 2024 to return to his former position within the Ministry. In June of the same year, however, the request was dismissed. The justification given by the court was that Al-Sawafi could not be rehired ‘for security reasons.’
Al-Sawafi lodged an appeal against the court’s decision, which was heard in three sittings. In the first one, in February 2025, Al-Sawafi’s lawyer again challenged the invalidity of the court’s decision. In the second, in March 2025, the Ministry’s response was heard, but the Ministry was unable to present any real reasons for the decision against Al-Sawafi. In the last one, held in April 2025, Al-Sawafi asked to give direct testimony, but when he was given the floor, he was abruptly interrupted by the judge and could not continue. On 30 June 2025, the Court of Appeal finally reconfirmed the original ruling.
The case of Awad Al-Sawafi shows how the repression of activists can take on different faces. The latter is not always through arrests and sentences to serve several years in prison (if not directly to death sentences). Repression of freedom of speech can also be carried out by a state through the implementation of measures that completely turn a person’s life upside down, relieving them of their duties and categorically refusing to reintegrate them into them.
The decisions that have been taken against Awad Al-Sawafi are clearly political decisions. Through his activism, he has constantly criticised the government, and the latter has decided to punish him in this way. Moreover, the trials he had to face were clearly influenced by political views and carried out without due process standards being met. For this reason, it is necessary to strongly condemn Oman for this misuse of its judicial bodies and to continue to speak out about these cases in order to highlight the way freedom of expression is repressed within the country.