The Freedom Initiative’s Saudi Case Manager Bethany Alhaidari was quoted an article published in the Associated Press on November 10, 2022. Entitled, “American woman freed in Saudi Arabia, travel ban remains,” Associated Press cites the Freedom Initiative and Saudi Case Manager Bethany Alhaidari on the release from prison of U.S. citizen Carly Morris, who is trapped under travel ban in Saudi Arabia. The Associated Press article was shared by the Washington Post and CBS News.

Carly Morris was released early Wednesday, after being summoned and taken into custody by Saudi authorities in the north-central city of Buraidah on Monday, according to the Freedom Initiative. The Washington-based group advocates for prisoners it deems wrongfully detained in the Middle East.

Morris traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2019 for what was intended to be a short stay to allow her daughter to meet the family of the Saudi father, said Bethany Al-Haidari, Freedom Initiative’s Saudi Arabia case manager.

The Freedom Initiative’s Research Director Allison McManus was quoted on the case of U.S. citizen Carly Morris in an article in The Guardian entitled, “US woman detained by Saudi officials after saying she has been trapped there since 2019,” which was published on November 8, 2022.

The Freedom Initiative’s Saudi Case Manager Bethany Alhaidari was quoted about the case of U.S. citizen Carly Morris in a CNN article published on November 10, 2022 and entitled, “Human rights organization expresses concerns about American they say is trapped in Saudi Arabia.” The article also quotes the Freedom Initiative’s press release regarding Morris’ status.

According to the Freedom Initiative, Carly Morris “remains trapped in Saudi Arabia due to a travel ban and under constant threat of rearrest.”

“Saudi authorities should immediately lift the travel ban against her and permit her to return home to the US with her daughter,” Bethany Alhaidari, Saudi Case Manager at the Freedom Initiative, said in a press release Thursday.

Read the full article here.

To set up an interview with Saudi Case Manager Bethany Alhaidari, email [email protected].

The Freedom Initiative’s Saudi Case Manager Bethany Alhaidari was quoted in an August 21 article titled Plea for Liz Truss to act after Saudis jail UK student for 34 years over Twitter use for The Guardian. Alhaidari discussed the shocking sentencing of Saudi Rights Activist Salma al-Shehab and the current status of human rights in Saudi Arabia.

Bethany Al-Haidari, Saudi case manager at the Freedom Initiative, a US-based human rights group, said Shehab’s case was “shocking” but “one of hundreds”. “She’s just the one that the world happens to get the chance to see. But this is a larger problem,” she said.

“There’s been a global campaign by the Saudi government to say things are changing and the country is reforming, but that’s just not true. In fact, it’s the opposite of what we’ve seen on the ground.”

She said cases of abuses were not limited to Saudi nationals, adding that those traveling there for sporting and other events could be at risk. “Only last year, there was a case where a US citizen was pulled off a flight and detained. You never know what can happen, especially if you’ve ever talked about human rights or are from a minority. It’s not a predictable regime.”

Read the full article here.

To set up an interview with Saudi Case Manager Bethany Alhaidari, email [email protected]

The Freedom Initiative’s Saudi Case Manager Bethany Alhaidari was quoted in an August 18 article for NBC News on the egregious sentencing of Saudi Rights Activist Salma al-Shehab.

Alhaidari said her organization was seeing a shift toward harsher penalties for dissent in Saudi Arabia, which she attributes to Western countries welcoming Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman back into the fold following a period of estrangement after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

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“This is a new shift that is a consequence, a direct consequence, of the international community kind of brushing aside horrible human rights violations,” she said.

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Read the full article here.

To set up an interview with Saudi Case Manager Bethany Alhaidari, email [email protected].

The Freedom Initiative’s Saudi Case Manager Bethany Alhaidari was quoted in a July 28 article in the Washington Post titled Saudi crown prince wants you talking about his ‘city of the future.’

Rights groups say the administration should push harder.

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“The reality is that for Saudi Arabia, nothing would be as groundbreaking, sustainable or futuristic for the country as basic dignity and human rights for people under its jurisdiction,”

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said Bethany Alhaidari, the Saudi case manager at the Freedom Initiative, an organization advocating for prisoners wrongfully detained in the Middle East.

Read the full article here.

To set up an interview with Saudi Case Manager Bethany Alhaidari, email [email protected].