Economics professor and co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association. In 2013, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his involvement in human rights activities.
He received a PhD from Indiana University.
In 2008, he participated in a 2-day hunger strike to protest the imprisonment of 11 activists.
He has a wife and two children named Qahtani and Othman al-Qahtan.
He and Waleed Abulkhair received the Right Livelihood Award in 2018.