On 12 February 2012, Malaysian authorities deported Hamza Kashgari back to Saudi Arabia despite there being no formal extradition treaty between the two countries. The Home Ministry in Malaysia issued a statement saying “ The nature of the charges against the individual in this case are a matter for the Saudi Arabian authorities". Hamza Kashgari had left Saudi Arabia last Wednesday following death threats and calls by clerics and scholars for him to be tried for insulting the Prophet Mohammed as a result of comments he had made on the social media site Twitter. He was immediately detained on his arrival at Kuala Lumpur on 9 February 2012. Shortly after posting the comments on Twitter the human rights defender retracted what he had said and published an apology. Despite this, calls were made for him to be tried before a Shari'a court on charges of “apostasy” which carries with it the death penalty.
His family succeeded in having a lawyer, Mr. Ragunath, appointed to him the day following his arrest and an injunction preventing the deportation was applied for. According to information received, although the application for the injunction was granted by the court yesterday it came too late. Front Line Defenders believes that Hamza Kashgari had a legitimate basis upon which to claim asylum given that he has a prima facie legitimate fear of persecution in Saudi Arabia, a country which frequently tortures detainees and does not provide basic guarantees of a fair trial.
Front Line Defenders is seriously concerned for the physical and psychological integrity and security of Hamza Kashgari and calls on the authorities in Saudi Arabia to immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against him and to release him from detention as Front Line Defenders believes that he is being detained solely as a result of his legitimate human rights work and the exercise of his right to freedom of expression.
