A Moroccan court has decided to extradite Osama al-Hasani, a dual Australian-Saudi citizen, to Saudi Arabia, his wife says.
Mr al-Hasani, 42, was taken into custody on 8 February, hours after arriving in Tangier, Morocco, from his home in the United Kingdom to visit his wife and four-month-old child.
A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced Mr al-Hasani, a businessman who previously worked at a Saudi university, to two years in prison.
His wife Hana said last week she feared for her husband’s life and was “afraid his fate will be like that of Jamal Khashoggi”, the Saudi dissident and US resident killed and dismembered by a team of operatives in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.
In a series of WhatsApp messages on Thursday morning, Hana told SBS News she “[couldn’t] describe her feelings”.
“The fact he will be extradited to Saudi Arabia means simply that he is going to be tortured, and maybe worse than that, things I don’t want to think about right now,” she said.
“I am so afraid for my husband, who is facing an unknown fate. Will I see him again or not? How will I raise my son without a father?”
She said authorities have taken her husband to a prison in Tiflet, a town about 60km east of Morocco’s capital, Rabat.
A Moroccan justice ministry official said Mr al-Hasani’s arrest took place following an Interpol notice filed by Saudi Arabia, adding that Hasani is wanted by the Saudis for a penal code matter involving theft.
According to local media, he was targeted for allegedly participating in the organisation of “an activity of public opposition” to the Islamic sect Wahhabism, the dominant faith in Saudi Arabia.
Human rights group Prisoners of Conscience, which advocates on behalf of people detained in Saudi Arabia, has called for the immediate release of Mr al-Hasani.
“We call upon authorities in Morocco to release him and stop any attempt to deport him to KSA where he’d be either killed or jailed.”
Hana wrote a letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week, pleading for the Australian government to help stop the “injustice” of her husband’s possible extradition.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the office of Foreign Minister Marise Payne have been contacted for comment.
Additional reporting: Reuters
