The brother-in-law of a former San Jose City College photography professor was arrested and has reportedly been subjected to torture during his imprisonment, according to an email from Ciaran MacGowan, former SJCC photography instructor.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of those dictator situations where they lock someone up and throw away the key,\u201d MacGowan wrote in his email.<\/p>\n
According to a letter written by Areej Sadhan, Abdulrahman Sadhan\u2019s sister and MacGowan\u2019s wife, Sadhan was arrested at his workplace on March 12, 2018.<\/p>\n
No kind of warrant was ever provided in regards to his arrest, according to Sadhan\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n
The Sadhan family wasn\u2019t notified of Abdulrahman Sadhan\u2019s arrest until an eyewitness of the incident was able to get in contact with them, according to Sadhan\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n
For well over a year now, Sadhan has been under \u201cenforced disappearance,\u201d which means that an individual is arrested without having any kind of formal charges brought against them, and this individual also does not have access to a lawyer, according to Sadhan\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n
Fourteen months after his abduction, Sadhan\u2019s family has not been allowed to visit or call him, according to Sadhan\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n
Sadhan\u2019s father attempted to visit him on numerous occasions before eventually being ordered to back down by the Saudi Arabian government.<\/p>\n
Families of other prisoners have reported to the Sadhan family that Sadhan has been subjected to severe torture throughout the course of his imprisonment.<\/p>\n
Areej Sadhan has since reached out to various human rights agencies, searching for help and support for her brother.<\/p>\n
Of the attempts to contact the Saudi Arabian government by the Sadhan family, Saudi officials never once responded to any inquiries in regards to the condition of Sadhan.<\/p>\n
The most information the Sadhan family has received on the condition of Abdulrahman Sadhan came from the Saudi National Human Rights Commission, who informed the Sadhans in November 2018 that Abdulrahman Sadhan \u201chad been transferred to Al-Ha\u2019ir Prison in Riyadh,\u201d Areej Sadhan\u2019s letter to The Times reads.<\/p>\n
The website of the MENA Rights Group reported that Sadhan\u2019s cell phone was taken from him upon his abduction, and that the day after his arrest, a crew of men wearing what seemed to be police uniforms were spotted forcefully entering his home.<\/p>\n
According to KPIX, Sadhan has been subjected to such gruesome, life-threatening torture.<\/p>\n
The Sadhans reached out to the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but Pelosi and her staff are unable to take much actions since Abdulrahman Sadhan is not a United States citizen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope to get the attention of the American government but as yet neither Pelosi nor Feinstein have troubled themselves to speak to us personally,\u201d MacGowan wrote in an email.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are repeatedly put off by their staff who say there\u2019s nothing they can do for us,\u201d MacGowan wrote in an email.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I have to seriously ask who exactly do these \u2018ivory tower morons\u2019 represent, if an abducted and tortured brother of an American citizen doesn\u2019t get their attention?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sadhan family did not disclose this situation for a considerable amount of time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe family kept this secret for over a year because all Saudis are terrorized,\u201d MacGowan wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were afraid that going public would make the situation worse,\u201d MacGowan wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did not (and do not) seek to anger the Saudi regime but after more than a year they are compelled to try something different for their \u2018disappeared brother\u2019: and so now that they have indeed spoken up they receive death threats on Twitter.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The brother-in-law of a former San Jose City College photography professor was arrested and has reportedly been subjected to torture during his imprisonment, according to an email from Ciaran MacGowan, former SJCC photography instructor. \u201cIt\u2019s one of those dictator situations where they lock someone up and throw away the key,\u201d MacGowan wrote in his email….<\/p>","protected":false},"author":502,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"staff_name":[734],"class_list":["post-12666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","staff_name-mikie-negrete"],"yoast_head":"\n